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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Does anyone find that sometimes silent films are actually more emotionally moving than talkies? I just saw 'Broken Blossoms', starring Lillian Gish and directed by D.W.Griffiths and it was very moving. I also think City Lights, with Charlie Chaplin, is one of the best films of all time, especially that scene at the end where he re-unites with the flower girl, it almost made me teary. I think it's because we focus more on body language and emotions come through more pure, without words and stuff. Don't people seem more 'innocent' when they don't talk?
"City Lights" is a great film. Did you notice the sideways homage to it in "Out of Africa" when Streep starts telling a story?
Many of the silents still used the stage techniques and over-acting, so can be distracting to me. The humor in them also tends to be very broad and slapstick. It was a different audience back then, but once you get over those stylistic differences, some of the films were very good.
Gish was a trouper. I have a poster of "Broken Blossoms" signed by her at a showing in 1985. She was still active and available to fans even then.
I have a collection of silent films. The best of them are very entertaining. The beautiful Louise Brooks is fantastic in a German film called 'Pandora's Box.' Even 'The Birth Of A Nation' for all its faults is great to watch.
There is a very interesting television series made in 1980 by Thames TV in England. It is called Hollywood: A Celebration Of The American Silent Film. It is available to watch on the net. There are 13 episodes full of interviews with silent film stars like Lillian Gish and Coleen Moore. Plus lots of clips of silent films.
Does anyone find that sometimes silent films are actually more emotionally moving than talkies? I just saw 'Broken Blossoms', starring Lillian Gish and directed by D.W.Griffiths and it was very moving. I also think City Lights, with Charlie Chaplin, is one of the best films of all time, especially that scene at the end where he re-unites with the flower girl, it almost made me teary. I think it's because we focus more on body language and emotions come through more pure, without words and stuff. Don't people seem more 'innocent' when they don't talk?
Is Broken Blossoms the one where Gish is panicking inside the closet? That's so great.
I'm not sure if they're more moving. You may be right, and maybe it's because movies now are more cynical, or more interested in action, so that they don't let emotion build. But maybe it's because - especially if you're watching at home - you have to focus on the movie more, because of the titles.
City Lights happens to be my favorite movie, and by a very wide margin. Just the ending alone would be enough for me to regard it so highly, but it so happens that I love the entire thing, too. I also really like Metropolis, Battleship Potemkin, and The Gold Rush, but in my opinion they're not on the same level as City Lights. I've also seen a few silent films that didn't really do anything for me. There are lots of bad silent films out there, but when they're good they're really good, I think.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,047,835 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lamplight
City Lights happens to be my favorite movie, and by a very wide margin. Just the ending alone would be enough for me to regard it so highly, but it so happens that I love the entire thing, too. I also really like Metropolis, Battleship Potemkin, and The Gold Rush, but in my opinion they're not on the same level as City Lights. I've also seen a few silent films that didn't really do anything for me. There are lots of bad silent films out there, but when they're good they're really good, I think.
Yeah I wasn't prepared for such pathos in a Chaplin movie. I've seen maybe 3 Chaplin movies now and the slapstick scenes were funnier than I thought they would be. I think sometimes you have to be in a certain frame of mind to appreciate it, but the innocence and cartoon-like nature of it appeals of people of all ages. As mentioned in the commentary, silent films translated well to foreign audiences since not only was there no dialogue (aside from the text descriptions) but filmmakers made a conscious effort to put as much humour in the body language, facial expressions and other non-verbal expressions of how the characters felt etc. City Lights is a brilliant example of this, Chaplin's expression at the end belies his reputation as just another slapstick star. Actually come to think City Lights came late in his career, and wasn't a true silent movie. There were sound effects but no spoken dialogue, so I would consider it a silent.
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