Home Films/DVD Asylum

Movies from comedy to drama to your favorite Hollyweird Star.

"I'm not big on..." - SILENCE! Seriously, yes, I'm a big fan of silent film.

AudioHead, if you want to see something that will blow your contemporary mind from the 20's get the Spanish reconstruction of Murnau's Faust (i.e., the ultimate German Expressionist film); I also highly recommend Murnau's Sunrise (20th Century Fox) which recieved the first Academy Award for Best Picture (Art & Production). Also Criterion's release of Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc, and for something lighter, KINO's recent restored release of Douglas Fairbank's Thief of Bagdad.

I agree that silents aren't everybody's "cuppa tea" but there are certainly some silents which have never been improved on, either visually or conceptually and have a tendency to grow on you. Those that work least well tend to come across too stagey; over-acted to the point of being comical in order to convey visual cues to the audience, compensating for lacking audible dialogue. Proper projection speed can also be a key element to enjoyment of silent films (i.e., silent movies which are shown at sound film projection speed appear speeded up and cartoony, which tragically undermines the original artistry).

Anyway, I like movies from all eras, but NOT all movies, and there are clinkers from every period, IMO; silent films are no exception.

Cheers,
AuPh


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