The origin of European cinema, from its infancy as a novelty created by French inventors Auguste and Louis Lumière to its flourishing as the pinnacle of film-making in the silent era and as a serious commercial contender against America.
4.0 / 5
Episode 1
Highlighting the world's first public presentation of films in Paris, the comedies by Max Linder, Abel Gance's J'Accuse and the onset of World War I.
Episode 2
Including Ingeborg Holm by Victor Sjostrom and Greta Garbo's star-making performance opposite Lars Hanson in Gosta Berling's Saga. Directed by Michael Winterbottom.
Episode 3
Featuring The Battleship Potemkin by Sergei Eisenstein, Metropolis by Fritz Lang, Joyless Street starring Greta Garbo, The White Hell of Pitz Palu featuring Leni Riefenstahl and Louise Brooks becomes a star in Pandora's Box.
Episode 4
Highlighting Abel Gance's masterpiece, Napoleon.
Episode 5
Exploring the early career of Alfred Hitchcock.
Episode 6
Focusing on the arrival of sound films, The Jazz Singer and the onslaught of World War II.
