The Stummfilmfestival in Berlin has started. I got a ticket for all the movies, so I will be seeing practically everything I can. Also, 6451 is in Berlin and so we will happily see quite a lot of each other.
Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (Diary of a Lost Girl)
Germany 1929, Georg W. Pabst, 109′
Before the film started, an announcer told us that this Pabst film was based on book aimed at maids. I knew that maids in the 19th and beginning of the 20th century loved reading these cheap thin books, but I also knew that most of these books contain disgustingly clichéd and badly written love stories. I could barely believe that Pabst (nor Louise Brooks) would make such a movie, which also was aimed at that audience.
Indeed, the film’s story was amazingly… girlish. A girl was driven out of the house by her stepmother for being impregnated by some evil guy, then fled from some dreadful reformatory for girls and subsequently got herself into a brothel, oh well. What make this film so interesting are firstly Louise Brook’s face and secondly Pabst’s directing.
I expected quite a lot from Pabst, and was not disappointed. The film was pretty much exactly like I hoped for, there were no Murnauesque special effects, just solid acting, a lot of subtle humor and a pleasant, fluid pace. Pabst knew very well how to make his characters interact, making this the probably the most lively silent I have seen so far. Besides Louise Brooks herself, we see a lot of close-ups of other characters who transport their feelings and intentions through facial expression alone. Nevertheless, there is something melodramatic about this direction style, and I have a feeling that Tarantino likes Pabst for the same reason for which certain critics like Sirk. XD
Straight Shooting
USA 1917, John Ford, 71′
Admittedly, we saw this film because it fit into the schedule. I have never, ever seen a John Ford movie, and ever since I got into movies, I have never ever seen a single western yet. The fact that this super old movie was supposedly well preserved was quite intriguing. I decided to give it a chance, even though the story didn’t sound all that exciting: Farmers and ranchers were engaged in some sort of war, in which the superhero-like protagonist decided to help the poor farmer’s family when he saw an old man and a cute girl cry over the murder of the son. What then ensues can easily be qualified as gun porn, but it was a very nice-looking one.
Ultimately I had my little irks with how useless the girl was in the end (ugh, this is so American really), but in many ways, the film was a nice introduction into western as well as a great contrast to “Tagebuch einer Verlorenen”, oozing so much manliness.
3 Bad Men
USA 1926, John Ford, 92′
I cried manly tears! No, seriously, this was one of the most amusing and fun films I have seen in quite awhile. Just like “Straight Shooting”, it fulfills all the Western clichés, where outlaws are actually lovely and funny people helping a damsel in distress and where everybody finally realizes that the true gold is the gold of a fruitful harvest.
It might have been interesting to see what John Ford’s original intent for this movie was, but as it is presented now, it was very enjoyable and amusing to watch. This is the kind of movie that one has to see, because there is not much to tell about it. All in all, it has a funnier and more complex story than “Straight Shooting”, and seems to be much more mature both for storytelling and characterization.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (USA, 1920)
USA 1920, John S. Robertson, 80′
I have never seen any of the over 100 film versions of “Dr. Jekyll” before, and have only seen parts with Ingrid Bergman (which I liked very much, she has such a lovely shocked face). As my first film of this kind, I haven’t had very high expectations for the film. Indeed, there wasn’t much in this film that impressed me too much. In terms of direction, it was far less sophisticated than even “Straight Shooting”, and besides John Barrymore who plays both Jekyll and Hyde quite well, everything in the movie was pretty bad: Lighting, other people’s acting, the flow of the story… We rarely see any bad silent films, because we haven’t even seen the highly acclaimed good ones. “Fräulein Else” is perhaps the only film I have seen which doesn’t even had a Wikipedia article, and that one wasn’t even too bad – just not exactly good or memorable either. This version of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was little more than underwhelming. John Barrymore saved it a little bit, but that wasn’t enough for me who was tired after this marathon, heh.