You know what one of the most important things is about silent films?
They're silent.  In a JohnCagian sense, that means lots of room!  Watchers
can hear each other better, which makes for a much different sense of audience.
Then, on the other hand, they're not silent.  What can it mean when we listen
to the film projector run the film?  When we hear the end of the reel flipping
around?  Plus, what a great mode of identification with the screen it is to
play a live musical accompaniment, or to listen to one.
 
In Japan, I read in Barnouw's _Documentary_ book, a live narrator often
accompanied presentation of a documentary film.  (Kind of like we do with slide
shows, maybe).  I've experimented with video presentation accompanied by live
performance, and would be interested to hear more about such interactive
presentations.
 
--Evan