I love the beginnings of things, and watching the DVD Landmarks of Early Film is the closest we will come to traveling back in time to the late-19th century. One has a very intimate and visceral sense of the subjects that are being recorded; in many of the selections, there is no sense of performance as one might see in a modern documentary, as the people being filmed have little or no idea that their activities are being captured.

Most striking about this collection was the obvious speed with which film created and refined itself as an art form, from Edison Kinestoscope films to the work of the brothers Lumière and Georges Méliès. While there is an awkward experimentalism to the very early films, one soon sees an amazing flowering of techniques and uses for the new medium. This is obviously a very well crafted collection, created by individuals who truly love the subject matter. The quality of the films is great, and the selection well thought-out.