Review – These Amazing Shadows

The National Film Registry is yet another example of a government arts project kinda working. Film is an extraordinarily fragile medium, easy prey to mold, decay and flame. Even the negatives of big, modern movies such as The Godfather have fallen victim to studio neglect. Enter the Library of Congress to establish a bureaucracy to help preserve these vulnerable cultural treasures. The registry has done some great work since its inception in 1988, and its prouder moments are recognized in this documentary. But subject to the whims of public pressure, it has also enshrined some work of less obvious merit. Still, the registry puts a publicity-savvy face on the library’s worthwhile conservation efforts, and this documentary does a solid job of conveying the importance of the work. Mildly amusing