Henri Langlois: Phantom Of The Cinematheque

In this brave new era of VHS, DVD, 24-hour movie channels and TiVo, it's hard to comprehend Henri Langlois' importance to a generation of filmmakers who relied on his Cinematheque Francaise, the only place to see films no longer in circulation. Paris-based filmmaker Jacques Richard was himself the beneficiary of the Turkish-born Langlois' support, and his affectionate and uniformly superb documentary not only chronicles Langlois' fascinating career, but also his achievements as an archivist, film preservationist, programmer and mentor. In so doing, Richard also traces the development of film culture as we know it today. After creating a small cinema club in 1935 that...