Directed by: Charlie Chaplin
Released: 1931
Country: United States
Genres: Romantic comedy, Drama
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review
A story can be full of fun throughout. Again, a story can be a mixture of laughs and emotions, a balanced mixture of both of them. City Lights is an example of such a film. Charlie Chaplin brings to screen a sweet love story, with the addition of situations that keep us laughing throughout.
The protagonist of this film is Chaplin's most memorable character, the Tramp. One day, he meets a blind girl who sells flowers. Slowly, he becomes close to the blind girl. For some reasons, the blind girl thinks that the tramp is a wealthy man. The girl lives in poverty with her grandmother. To give the girl some financial support, the tramp finds a job. But very soon he is fired for being late on his job.
But the girl is now in a situation of extreme difficulty--- she needs to pay the rent of the house she lives in. The Tramp starts doing all he can to help the girl, which he succeeds in doing, but for which he needs to sacrifice a lot.
The film has an important subplot. One day, the tramp convinces a drunk wealthy man not to commit suicide. After this incident, the man starts thinking the tramp as a friend, even inviting him to stay with him at his house. However, as soon as the man becomes sober, he does not seem even to recognize the tramp. From that time, whenever the man is drunk, he suddenly recognizes the tramp as a friend. This recurring friendship will ultimately bring the tramp both the solution to his problem, as well as misery.
Almost every scenes of this film is filled with humor that made me laugh out loud! The very first scene shows the unveiling of a statue, but when the statue is unveiled, the tramp is sitting on the statue! Again, the scene where the tramp saves the wealthy man, the scene where the blind girl mistakenly pours water on him (intending to water her flowers), and so many other scenes!
The sweet romance and the Tramp's will to help her, despite himself being a, umm, tramp, is extremely touching. Later in the film, the misery the Tramp has to go through is very emotionally intense. Chaplin crafts the entire film so well, with such talent, with his great direction, screenplay and acting. The antics of the Tramp are extremely funny, and Chaplin, with his great skill, brings that to screen brilliantly. Virginia Cherrill as the blind girl gives an excellent performance as well. The ending is very touching and beautiful.
Overall, this is a masterpiece. City Lights extremely funny sweet, touching, wonderful romantic comedy that I'd recommend to everybody!
5 out of 5!
Directed by: D. W. Griffith
Released: 1919
Country: United States
Starring: Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Donald Crisp, Edward Peil Sr., Arthur Howard, George Beranger, Norman Shelby
Genres: Drama, Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review
Lillian Gish is the heart of D. W. Griffith's ''Broken Blossoms''. The innocence of the female protagonist's face, the tortures she face, her heart becoming so fulfilled after receiving a little gentleness, having received only harshness and cruelty in her life- all these are brought to life by Gish. The film is a poetic film, with a beauty and sweetness and along with that, horror of cruelty ultimately bringing a tragic end.
''Broken Blossoms'' has a romantic genre, but it is not just a romantic film. It is also a lyrical drama that becomes so very touching.
Cheng Huan (Richard Barthelmess) is a Chinese young man. He is gentle, polite, and a religious Buddhist. He leaves China to preach the message of Buddha in the Anglo-Saxon lands. There he becomes the owner of a small shop. He also sees brutality and intolerance around him.
Lillian Gish enters the screen. Gish plays Lily, the daughter of a boxer, Battling Burrows, played by Donald Crisp. Her innocent face without a smile and with sadness in her eyes immediately tell us that something is wrong. She is physically and mentally abused by her father. He treats her as a slave. And often, he inhumanly beats her. She never has the cause to smile. When her father repeatedly tells her to smile, we see her fingers moving her lips to form a smile. And oh- this thing Lily does a number of times in this movie, and this is something that can bring tears to our eyes. As the inter-titles say, Battling Burrows sometimes uses Lily as a ''punching-bag''. There is indeed something in Lillian Gish's performance that, at once, makes her not only have pity for this character, but also makes us feel love for this movie, making the movie more, much more engrossing. Gish is perhaps one of the greatest actresses ever.
One day, after her father beats her like an animal, Lily walks away from the house. She walks into Cheng Huan's store, and then faints.
When Lily regains consciousness, she is immensely rewarded with kindness, gentleness, and nursing from Cheng Huan. Never in her life had she ever got so much gentleness. To her, the world had meant only a place for cruelty and harshness, and now she finds kindness from Cheng Huan. He nurses her, gives her flowers, and also gives her a doll. She finally has a smile in her face.
Does happy times last for long? Battling Burrows comes to know from a friend that about his daughter's interraction with a Chinese man, and now he will do anything brutal, anything terrible, to separate these two people and ultimately...
The most touching thing about this movie is the character Lily herself. I felt so very sad, so very pity for this character. Harshness and cruelty exists in this world. But this girl, as innocent as a child, why she has to face only cruelty? Never she can smile. One of the most touching things about this film was Lily trying to force a smile using with fingers. Why has she no cause to smile?
When Cheng Huan is kind and gentle to her, nurses her back to health, that brings a smile to our face. Her deep pleasure when Cheng Huan gives her flowers and a doll, just like the pleasure of a child, indeed brings a smile and emotions. And then she is brutally separated from the only person who has been kind to her.
The great Lillian Gish is the soul of the movie. She brings the character of Lily to life, contributing to make the picture much more touching and beautiful. Donald Crisp brings the brutality of Battling Burrows to life, making us hate the character, performing as an evil villain in a wonderful way. Richard Barthelmess is similarly wonderful. Cinematography is striking; the editing is excellent; the inter-titles are poetic and their backgrounds were artistic.
Films as sad and as poetic as this one occupy a special place in our heart. Broken Blossoms is a haunting poetry that, after we have watched it, haunts us, fills us with emotions, and lets us think about the movie.
5 out of 5
Alert: This is not a review! This is an essay and it contains spoilers as the whole story is described along with my opinions and thoughts. Don't read the essay if you haven't seen the movie yet!
Beauty is seen throughout F. W. Murau's ''Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans'', perhaps one of the best silent films ever made. Released in 1927, it is certainly such a very excellent movie. Several of F. W. Murau's films are considered classic (''Nosferatu'', ''The Last Laugh'', and ''Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans). But Sunrise can easily be said the best film directed by Murnau.
The film needs to be watched in order to understand it's merits. The beauty, and merits of the film is simply great. Cinematography, performances, story, screenplay- and everything else, make it such a wonderful film.
We never know what are the names of the characters. The two protagonists are The Man and his Wife.
The film begins with a train approaching a village. It is summer vacation, and and the vacationists reach the village.
Among the vacationists there is a Woman from the City. We see, one evening, she, dressed in black, leaves her hotel and walks to somewhere. She reaches a houses and whistles. Then, after a while, she goes away.
The residents of the house are a farmer (The Man) and his wife. The Man leaves his home, and when he reaches the woman, in a dark and empty place...
Meanwhile, while the man was on his way to the woman, women of the village discuss that the Man and his wife were once so carefree and cheerful, and now he has loves the woman from the city.
Anyways, after the Man reaches the Woman from the City, we see that they are in love with each other. The woman, certainly a vamp, after talking about their love, tells him to run to the city after selling his farm. What about his wife? She tells him to murder her. Though the man initially hesitates and starts hitting the woman, she then makes him kiss her and describes to him the plan to murder his wife. She tells him to drown his wife, and hands him a bundle of reeds so that he can save himself.
Then what? The man reaches home. His wife is asleep. He goes to his bed and falls asleep.
The next morning, he tells his wife that they would be going for a boat trip. The wife, overjoyed that her husband is, at last, paying attention to her, laughs and cheers with joy, and tells the maidservant that she would be away for a while.
They are on the boat. Their dog realizes that something is wrong and jumps into the water. The wife, startled, helps the dog to get into the boat. The man then again gets to the shore and takes the dog back home.
Again the journey starts. The man steps forward, intending to throw his wife off the boat. But he cannot. His wife is terrified. When he reaches a bank, the wife runs away. The Man follows her. She has hired a trolley. He also gets on the trolley. The wife is crying.
When they reach a city, the wife tries to run away. The man catches her, and tells her repeatedly not to afraid of him. She continues crying. They enter a restaurant. The man gets cakes. His wife touches one, and continues crying. She gets out of the restaurant. The man gives her flowers. Finally she stops crying and they somewhat reconcile.
They see a wedding and the man starts crying because of what he tried to do. His wife now comforts him. They reconcile.
After that, they have a cheerful time in the city, and the middle part is completely romantic comedy. Their visit at the barber shop, taking photos at a photographer's shop and other adventures are cheerful and funny. They have a romantic time. After this, they hire a trolley to get back to their village.
See this scene. At the evening, while they are on their way to the village, they are cheerful and happy and lovely in the tram. At the morning, while they had been on their way to the city the man was filled with guilt and shame, and his wife with fear and sorrow. Both were filled unpleasant feelings. But at the evening, their love have deepened; they are happy, they are cheerful, they are lovely. Within just a few hours, their strained relation have into deep love, true deep lovely love.
While on a boat back to the village, suddenly a storm starts. And by that, it means a TERRIBLE storm. The man hands his wife the reeds. The boat capsizes.
After a few moments, we see the husband has survived. He goes back to the village, gets some people to help him, and tries to find his wife at the water. He doesn't find her, he only finds the reeds. He returns home sad and heartbroken.
The woman in the city arrives to his house. He tries repeatedly to strangle her.
Meanwhile, the wife is not dead! A few men find her unconscious at the water and take her home.
On the other hand, the man is trying to strangle the woman from the city. The maidservant informs him that his wife's not dead. The man leaves the woman from the city, and runs to his wife, who wakes up. They reconcile... and it brings a smile, and to some, it may bring tears of joy and emotions.
The woman from the city goes away...
Just think about the story. Within one day, so many things have happened. The man, blinded by his attraction towards a femme fatale, tried to murder her wife, then felt guilty and ashamed, the man and his wife reconciled, had a cheerful romantic time at the city. They were on a boat back to village. A storm had started. He thought his wife was dead. So he tried to murder the vamp. But his wife was not dead. They reconciled once again.
They were on the boat on both the morning and evening. But things were different. At the morning, he was filled with an intention to murder his wife. At the evening, he was filled with love for his wife. He had left home at the morning as a villain, and came back home at the evening as a hero filled with love for his wife.
Cinematography is definitely fantastic. The camera positions and camera works are wonderful.
Janet Gaynor, who had played the wife, won an Oscar that year for her roles in three films: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, Seventh Heaven, and Street Angel. Her performance is truly great; giving a wonderful performances and bringing her character to life. The film also has great performances from George O'Brien (as The Man), and Margaret Livingston (as the Woman from the City) and they are supported by Bodil Rosing, Ralph Sipperly and others.
Just think of the theme of the film. At the early stage, it was filled with dark suspense. Then at the middle part, it became a romantic comedy, a cheerful and hilarious romantic comedy. The last part was filled with drama and slight suspense, then the final parts were romantic and emotional.
The femme fatale didn't know that her intentions would go wrong. Instead of separating the man from his wife, her evil plan went wrong. Nothing could separate the man and his wife. Instead, their love deepened, and the evil vamp had to go away.
I have added it to my list of favorite films. It's a love story filled with beauty and poetry. Sunrise, a beautiful song of two humans.
Directed by: F. W. Murnau
Released: 1922
Original title: Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens
Country: Germany
Genres: Horror
Main cast: Max Schrek, Gustov von Wangenhem, Greta Schröder, Alexander Granach, Ruth Landshoff, Georg H. Schnell, Gustav Botz, John Gottowt, Wolfgang Heinz, Max Nemetz
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review
In the present time, horror movies like ''Friday the 13th'', ''I Know What
You Did Last Summer'' and the wonderful ''Scream'' films are full of
violence and blood. And many vampire movies (even the romantic ''Twilight'') contain lots of violence, and sometimes get boring. But let us look back in the 1920s, and see the film ''Nosferatu''. ''Nosferatu'' is a vampire horror film, and this may not actually scare us as much as the horror film do today, but however, it will remain in our memories because it is so artistic and wonderful.
Have you read Bram Stoker's novel ''Dracula''? If you have read it, you must remember being frightened while reading it. I remember reading it when I was eight or nine years old, and though I couldn't understand many of the things, I remember being amazed and frightened while reading it. After that I have read it several more times, and each time the brilliant, masterpiece novel haunted me as much as it did when I read it for the first time.
''Nosferatu'' is a 1922 movie, based on Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (and it is the earliest film based on ''Dracula"). The studio could not obtain the rights for the novel, so the names of all the characters were changed in the film.
The film has many mentionable differences from the wonderful novel, but let's discuss that later. The story is about Thomas and Ellen Hutter, a young couple who live a happy life. Things change when Thomas's employer Knock, a rather strange man, informs Thomas that Count Orlok of Transylvania would like to buy a house. Leaving Ellen Hutter with some friends, Thomas starts his journey to Transylvania. Overnight, he stays in an inn, where people become scared when he mentions Count Orlok's name.
The next day, Thomas resumes his journey to Transylvania, and as nightfall comes near, the coachman refuses to take him any further. He finds another coach, and reaches Count Orlok's castle.
Thomas find Count Orlok a strange man. He comes to suspect Orlok as Nosferatu, The Bird of Death (vampire) after several terrifying incidences. He somehow manages to escape Count Orlok's castle.
Thomas is returning home. And meanwhile, Count Orlok is coming to Wiesborg, lying in a coffin. He successfully kills the entire crew and upon arriving in Wiesburg, his arrival spreads plague.. Many people become sick with plague and terrified...
And then Ellen finds something in the book about vampires which could destroy Orlok.
One of the most wonderful thing about Nosferatu is the performance of Max Schrek, who, as Count Orlok looks terrifying in his makeup. His long fingernails and the makeup effects easily makes him look really terrifying. He looks creepier than Gary Oldman does in the 1992 movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula". This is easily the most memorable role of Max Schrek.
Knock is another creepy character. Based on Dracula's
character Renfield, Knock is initially presented as Hutter's employer,
and later gets insane and is locked up. Alexander Granach plays his role quite well!
The entire film is narrated from the diary of Johann Cavallius, a historian.
''Nosferatu'' doesn't contain the sudden surprises that modern horror movie does. Instead, in nature it is very mild compared to present horror films. Perhaps the only scene where blood is shown is when Thomas Hutter cuts his thumb while dinner, and Orlok tries to suck the blood away (Thomas removes his hand). And that scene is also mild.
The excellence of this film lies in every scene of the film. Just look at the shadows that the film uses. The uses of shadows is probably among the most artistic elements of this film. Look at the shadow of Count Orlok climbing the staircases.
The scene where Orlok is seen standing by the window is, according to me, another memorable scene in this film. As I've mentioned, the brilliance of this film is visible in every single scenes. From the early scenes, such as a wonderful scene when Thomas gifts Ellen flowers, to the last scenes, it gives us a wonderful, sometimes haunting, experience.
I found another scene very interesting, when Professor Bulwer introduces his students to different carnivores plants.
There are many mentionable differences from the novel. The characters of John Seward, Professor Abraham van Helsing, Arthur Holmwood, Lucy Westenra are important supporting character in the novel ''Dracula''. Whereas in ''Nosferatu'', Professor Sievers (Dr. John Seward in the novel), Professor Bulwer (Professor van Helsing in the novel), Harding (Arthur Holmwood in the novel), Annie (Lucy Westenra in the novel) are simply presented as minor supporting characters. But however, it doesn't affect the movie at all. In spite of the mentionable differences from the novel, major storyline is based on ''Dracula''.
This film is certainly a classic, and a great artistic and sophisticated film in the horror genre. This great movie impresses us and well, at some parts, scares us; in short, ''Nosferatu'' is a masterpiece.
4 out of 5!
A story can be full of fun throughout. Again, a story can be a mixture of laughs and emotions, a balanced mixture of both of them. City Lights is an example of such a film. Charlie Chaplin brings to screen a sweet love story, with the addition of situations that keep us laughing throughout.
