The dirt was of value as a cataloging system, like the way Sherlock Holmes needed the dust on books to indicate their relative use and recency.

The film was shown on an old projector, rattling and noisy. But the worst part was the scratched and marked lens which made every movie seem like it was filmed in the middle of a desert dust storm.

Dust and dirt mark the spot, and sometimes create the context.

No country for the obsessively clean!