THE ATONEMENT OF GÖSTA BERLING
***
Sweden
After getting defrocked for his alcoholism, a pastor becomes a tutor and
falls in love with his student.
A limited role in this primitive Swedish would-be equivalent to "Gone
with the Wind" propelled Garbo towards international stardom and
lent the film a minor historical value. In itself, it's mostly dull and
difficult to follow - the narrative is barely contained and not helped by
the replacement of intertitles with illegible subtitles. But two
spectacular sequences towards the end - the burning of a mansion and a
dangerous journey on a frozen lake - restore some dignity.
dir: Mauritz Stiller
cast: Lars Hanson, Gerda Lundeqvist, Ellen Cederström, Mona
Mårtenson, Jenny Hasselqvist, Greta Garbo, Otto Elg-Lundberg
GREED
*****
USA
Famously, the original cut of Erich von Stroheim's adaptation of Frank
Norris' novel McTeague ran roughly eight hours, though the
surviving 140-minute version bears none of the choppiness that haunts the
majority of raped masterpieces. Within the context of the floss routinely
churned out by Hollywood during this period, the bite and cynicism of von
Stroheim's film is quite shocking. To this day few studio filmmakers have
demonstrated a gift akin to Von Stroheim's feel for the morbid dreariness
and insignificance that can overwhelm such ostensibly weighty events as
the beginnings of the McTeagues' courtship (by the sewer) and their
wedding ceremony (with a funeral procession passing before the window).
And McTeague' ultimate demise in Death Valley comes at the end of what is
still the most searing and demistifying of all final showdowns.
dir: Erich von Stroheim
wr: Erich von Stroheim, June Mathis
ph: William H. Daniels, Ben F. Reynolds, Ernest B. Schoedstack
cast: Gibson Gowland, ZaSu Pitts, Jean Hersholt, Chester
Conklin, Sylvia Ashton, Oscar Gottell, Otto Gottell, Frank Hayes, Jack
Curtis
THE EXTRAORDINARY
ADVENTURES OF MR. WEST IN THE LAND OF THE BOLSHEVIKS
***½
USSR
A naive American travels to Russia and falls pray to a gang of swindlers.
There's a certain delight simply in the notion that you're watching
something called this. It's broadly satirical propaganda of obvious
curiosity value, but also quite biting in its own exaggerated way - which
isn't necessarily as exaggerated as it would be healthy to assume.
dir: Lev Kuleshov
wr: Nikolai Aseyev, Vsevolod Pudovkin
cast: Vladimir Fogel, Boris Barnet, Pyotr Galadzhev, Anatoli
Gorchilin, G. Kharlampiev, Aleksandra Khokhlova, Vsevolod Pudovkin
KINO-EYE
***½
USSR
Someone was bound to do
it eventually, so Mr. Vertov just decided to get it out of the way early.
He may not have been the first, but I don't know of anyone before him who
so valiantly attempted to make on celluloid something out of absolutely
nothing. It's just random vignettes about life in a Soviet village that
includes a sequence projected in reverse, tracing the slaughtering of a
bull and the baking of a bread. For long stretches it's just dull, but
then in the final reel, Mr. Vertov turns his attention towards cocaine
junkies on the streets, after which he visits an insane asylum, confirming
suspicions of a darker streak running beneath the propaganda.
dir/ed: Dziga Vertov
THE LAST LAUGH
****½
Germany
An aging hotel doorman who identifies with his job is demoted to the
position of a washroom attendant.
An ironic character study with fluid, revolutionary camerawork and one
of the most expressive faces in silent cinema.
dir: F. W. Murnau
wr: Carl Mayer
ph: Karl Freund
cast: Emil Jannings, Max Hiller, Maly Delschaft, Hans
Unterkirchen
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THE MARRIAGE CIRCLE
***½
USA
Viennese upper-class members flirt and cheat with each other's spouses.
A light comedy of manners - Lubitsch's first American one, and arguably
America's first adult, sophisticated one. It exists in versions of various
lengths. Presumably the shorter ones are better suited to the style and
subject matter.
dir: Ernst Lubitsch
cast: Monte Blue, Florence Vidor, Marie Prevost, Adolphe Menjou, Creighton Hale
THE NAVIGATOR
*****
DIE NIBELUNGEN: KRIEMHILD'S
REVENGE
****
Germany
Kriemhild pursues her revenge on Hagen.
The sequel to "Siegfried", this differs drastically in
tone to its predecessor. It's darker and tighter, but less imaginative and
sprawling in size. Ultimately however, it compensates through the
spectacular climactic burning of the hall.
dir: Fritz Lang
ph: Carl Hoffmann, Günther Rittau
ad: Otto Hunte
cast: Margarete Schön, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Hans Adalbert
Schlettow, Theodor Loos, Rudolf Rittner
DIE NIBELUNGEN: SIEGFRIED
****½
Germany
The Icelandic hero Siegfried seeks to marry King Gunther's sister, but
must first win the warrior maiden Brunhild for his prospective
brother-in-law.
It seems impossible that somebody could go wrong with material this
rich, and even though economy and consistency were never among Fritz
Lang's strong points, he doesn't fail to deliver. It's arguably his
greatest work, creating a mythical, monumental universe based on Germanic
folklore. The production design is lavish and majestic, each setpiece is
as memorable as the previous, and the final cliffhanger is among the most dramatic
and effective ever devised.
dir: Fritz Lang
wr: Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou
ph: Carl Hoffmann, Günther Rittau, Walter Ruttmann
ad: Otto Hunte, Karl Vollbrecht
cast: Paul Richter, Margarete Schön, Theodor Loos, Hanna
Ralph, Hans Adalbert Schlettow
SHERLOCK, JR.
*****
STRIKE
*****
THE THIEF OF BAGDAD
***½
USA
In the title role - probably his greatest - Douglas Fairbanks spends most of
the time without a shirt on, precisely calculating his every move to showcase his
torso.
And so
he should - it's a remarkable torso. But more spectacular is the dreamy,
improbably lavish set design that creates a world of high-rising mosques,
extravagant palaces, winged horses and flying carpets. Magical chests and
apples feel more like natural extensions of the setting than a plotting
crutch. At two and a half hours, the picture is unnecessarily long, but
it's good escapist fun for the most part.
dir: Raoul Walsh
wr:
Douglas Fairbanks, Lotta Woods
ph: Arthur Edeson
pd: William Cameron Menzies
cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Julanne Johnston, Sojin, Anna May
Wong, Snitz Edwards, Brandon Hurst, Charles Belcher
WAXWORKS
***½
Germany
A young poet has to write stories based on the wax figures of Haroun al
Raschid, Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper.
Slightly witty, slightly stylish and slightly impressive triptych of
fantasy tales that aren't as focused on horror as they initially appear to
be. The film is mostly remembered for its expressionistic sets and
remarkable collection of actors.
dir:
Paul Leni
cast: William Dieterle, Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt, Werner
Krauss
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