The model is the 1994 blockbuster "Forrest Gump," wherein Tom Hanks's fictional hero was digitally juxtaposed with newsreel images of historical personages.

"The newsreel images from the 1950's and 1960's are still living in people's minds," Mr. Gutierrez said.

At night her dreams flicker with black-and-white newsreel images of past revolutionary glory, and she falls asleep reading the letters of left-wing partisans executed by the Fascists during World War II.

While the Times critics only occasionally refer to events taking place off screen or in other sections of the paper, you can frequently make out the shadowy newsreel images of the 20th century flickering between their lines.

The film uses standard techniques to tell its tale - videotaped interviews with survivors interspersed with newsreel images from the period - but does so with integrity and attention to detail.

At the very end, black-and-white newsreel images of the Japanese attack on Shanghai remind us of the real-world sequel to the stylized story we have been witnessing.

The spot combines black-and-white newsreel images of Miss Monroe with new footage of Miss Bouquet, then colors Miss Monroe and dresses her in Chanel-style garb to match the model's.

Unfortunately the transfer to the CD-ROM has left the newsreel images so muddy and dark that it is often almost impossible to make out what is happening, let alone distinguish riders.

The riots that rock Hong Kong, glimpsed in battered newsreel images and mentioned in passing, have nothing on the emotions that turn this woman's face into a landscape of pain.

"Bikini" similarly takes off from newsreel images of preparation leading up to the 1946 testing of an atomic bomb.