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As an adolescent developing an interest in old cinema, one of my prized books was Roger Manvell's 1946 Film, and through its pages, I first formed impressions of what certain films looked like. There were striking double-exposure shots from German Expressionist classics like Carl Mayer's 1924 The Last Laugh, images that emphasised giant shadows, and people caught in quiet contemplation.
© Getty Images Sign up for Sight & Sound’s Weekly Film Bulletin and more News, reviews and archive features every Friday, and information about our latest magazine once a month. Email Sign up There has been nothing quite like the lockdown of 2020-21 in the history of cinema, but it echoes what happened to art cinemas during World War II. In Britain, all cinemas were ordered closed at the outbreak in September 1939 – then were allowed to reopen within the month. Most of them continued even through the Blitz a year later, in 1940-41, but art cinemas – sometimes called ‘continental’ c...