Her Name Was Moviola

2024

Director: Howard Berry

Words: Ben Matthews.

Walter Murch’s Her Name Was Moviola is as much a testament to the role of a film editor as it is to the obsolete machinery it’s named after. Murch, a renowned sound editor who’s worked with Francis Ford Coppola on many of his greatest films, uses the documentary format to break down the technical process of traditional film editing.
Using the rushes from the production of a modern film (2013’s Mr. Turner, directed by Mike Leigh), Murch and his team create an edit using only the hundred year old Moviola. They run into a plethora of issues which are all overcome in really surprising ways, such as sourcing an extinct type of tape used to indicate the physical length of a reel from the Pixar archive, and travelling to Stanley Kubrick’s estate to borrow his personal Steenbeck editing table. In this sense the film acts as a demonstration but not necessarily an endorsement.

The entire process is fascinating, and the documentary draws on a team of experts to explain the difficulties once faced by this department in contrast to the streamlined digital softwares that are industry standard now. It is compared to practising surgery before anaesthetic; it does the job but it’s not necessarily pleasant.
The title alludes to an anecdote from Murch, who’s wife had once expected him to be having an affair where he was really just inseparable from his work as editor. It’s easy to imagine having this weird working relationship with the machine. The Moviola is pedal operated and requires the editor to stand next to it, and be in constant engagement with it. It’s reminiscent of early industrial machinery.
Halfway through the documentary the team come to miss the plush sofas and huge LCD screens of a modern editing suite. In direct contrast, Murch can barely hear the dialogue from the Moviola and has to edit off of expression alone in some cases.

It would be very easy to lyrically lament this age-old process, but instead the premise is used to highlight the artistry required from the editor themselves, regardless of the equipment used. Murch defends his editorial decisions constantly. Explaining everything from the importance of a simple cut during conversation, to how an extended pause can entirely alter the meaning of a scene.
In an industry where a film is increasingly seen as a product more than it is an expression, the art of editing could very easily be reduced to merely sequencing footage to create narrative. Her Name Was Moviola succinctly demonstrates the influence which a good editor can have.

–

Her Name Was Moviola had its World Premiere at Sheffield DocFest 2024:

https://www.sheffdocfest.com/film/her-name-was-moviola

---