Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016)

Directed by: Bill Morrison | 120 minutes | documentary, history

In 1976, a collection of long-lost film reels was found during an excavation in Dawson City, Canada. The films, dating from the first three decades of the last century, turned out to be an immensely valuable find, because they were able to retrieve an almost forgotten piece of history. After the necessary restoration, these historical events came into a new spotlight. For example, the images of the creation of Dawson City and the gold rush in the nearby Yukon area provide a detailed picture of what life was like at that time. The many archive images, both still and moving, and the instructive intertitles provide additional historical interpretation. This history of time is interesting, but ‘Dawson City: Frozen Time’ goes beyond just a dry account of historical events.

The old film reels also give a history of the image. Together with the archive images used, the film tapes found show how we have come to interpret and experience images over time. The relationship with time and reality was further explored in those early years of film. True events appeared on the silver screen some time later. What used to disappear from the collective memory is now stored by the hard disk of the screen. And taken for granted. Because images don’t lie, that was the general assumption. However, the early films in ‘Dawson City: Frozen Time’ are not just factual records and news reports.

Dramatizing reality, as effectively happens in the film itself, became commonplace. The fiction film was given more and more space. The fact that the cinemas in Dawson City shot up like mushrooms shows that the public could gradually get used to it. Gone are the days when the movie-watching public was shocked by a movie about an oncoming train. Truth gave way to emotion and amusement. In that respect it is interesting that the editing and choice of images in ‘Dawson City: Frozen Time’ can come across as somewhat manipulative, but because these kinds of interventions are inherent to film, that does not disturb anywhere.

In addition to the pure history and experience of film, the old film fragments and the way in which they are presented in ‘Dawson City: Frozen Time’ are also exemplary for the history of film itself. The film starts with the implicit mention of how special the discovery of the film reels was. Not only because of the content, but also because of the nitrate material with which the rolls are made. The highly flammable nitrate films take the viewer back to the origin of the film. From there, ‘Dawson City: Frozen Time’ embarks on an amazing journey through all the highlights of the early film. A journey with the ultimate goal of the northern gold town of Dawson City. That’s where the distribution line ended and all the movies were stored until further notice. Until the film cans were buried under an ice rink.

In passing, the film immediately exposes the technical and stylistic development of the medium during that journey. From the simple shots from just after the invention of the film to the later evening-filling spectacles. The evolution of camera movements, editing and sound (the first ‘talkies’!) are all clearly visible. It is somehow reminiscent of work by Mark Cousins, who took a similar approach with his ‘The Story of Film’ series (2011). But where Cousins ​​got stuck in theoretical treatises, director Bill Morrison opts for a more narrative approach in ‘Dawson City: Frozen Time’. Because the early development of Dawson City is taken as the film’s guideline, the city can be seen as the main character, as it were. A character full of drama and emotion. ‘Dawson City: Frozen Time’ comes close to the essence of film because of this personal form. ‘Dawson City: Frozen Time’ is a gold mine for the medium.