In 1927, the thirteenth-century Chinese play Romance of the Western Chamber (西廂記) was filmed, directed by Hou Yao. The play was considered controversial as it featured love before marriage and female desire. Part of the historical relevance of this film adaptation is that this was the first Chinese film to be shown on European screens, under the title Way Down West. The film was long believed lost, until a French-language version was found in the archive of Eye Filmmuseum. Author Didi Yitong Liang takes this film and its rediscovery and restoration as the starting point for an examination of the collection, archiving and screening of historic films.

Designer Victoria Lum has done a good job of reflecting the materiality of film in the materiality of Way Down West. Firstly by taking the original film aspect ratio (3:4) as her guide for the composition of the pages. A black strip along the fore edge of each page refers to the black edges of a projection screen, and a copious white space at the foot of the page reminds us constantly of this unusual aspect ratio (in relation to the dimensions of the book). The font with its curling, sharp serif well suits the original film’s intertitles – the text cards seen between the scenes in silent films.

A number of visual components give the reader a complete impression of the content, such as a series of stills accompanying the opening of Liang’s essay and stills of the French intertitles at its close, translated into English and Mandarin. A picture section comprising scans of the film roll on coated paper has been left without printing on both sides; these are complemented by frames from the film printed on transparent plastic and inserted, completing the impression of a film archive. The PVC sleeve in which the book sits is a use of plastic in the design that brings less added value. The application of screen-printing on this sleeve, however, is very strong. The Mandarin and English titles on the front and back of the book work extremely well against the background of a selected shot from the film – and even the summary flap text printed on the spine is clearly legible.