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Welcome to my blog, if you are looking for reviews of the latest releases then I would suggest taking a look at some of the other excellent blogs mentioned to the right of this blog, for I review an eclectic mix of films from any era and any country and have sadly little time for the latest film news.
Enjoy my blog and don't hesitate to comment, I will answer without delay!

Friday 6 May 2011

Silent Film Marathon: Film 4

The fourth film of this marathon is the German Expressionist Classic The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.
It is one of the earliest examples of the Expressionist movement and is a fascinating film that has been hugely influential.

Thursday 5 May 2011

Silent Film Marathon: Film 3

For the third part of this marathon I'll be writing about Griffith's follow up to his infamous The Birth of A Nation.
But before I start the review I must mention that I have been unable to see the entire film due to technical difficulties. Basically, I managed to watch about 2 hours and a half of the film, but the remaining 1 hour seems to be corrupted and unwatchable.
So this isn't really a review of the entire film, just some thoughts on what I did see. 

Wednesday 4 May 2011

Silent Film Marathon: Film 2

The Birth of A Nation is one of the best known of Silent films, mainly because of the controversy that surrounds it.
It is widely claimed to be a major step forward in Cinema in terms of technical abilities, budget and the amount of money it made, among other things.
It was the highest grossing film of the Silent era, making about 10 million dollars.

 I had heard much about it before viewing it, the controversy, the ground breaking technical achievements etc. And was curious to find out for myself what all the fuss was about.
Some reviews I had read criticised the film in the strongest possible terms for it's content which they labelled nothing less than racist. Some called for people to look past the controversial content and recognise the films technical achievements. I can't recall any saying they enjoyed or could relate to the story though...

Tuesday 3 May 2011

Silent Film Marathon: Film 1

To open the marathon I've chosen the Italian Epic Cabiria directed by Giovanni Pastrone and released just before WWI.

Made in 1914, this is the earliest of the films I'll be watching as part of the marathon and additionally, the only Italian one.
I had not heard much about it, but one of my friends who is very knowledgeable in Cinema recommended it so I acquired it and went in with rather high expectations but knowing little about the actual content.

Monday 2 May 2011

Silent Film Marathon Introduction

I've decided that I've had enough of the various Silent Classics hanging around on my PC and remaining unwatched, so I'll work my way through some of the major ones in this marathon.

Many of the are rather lengthy, but pretty much all of them are considered Classics and I doubt I could call myself a serious student of films without having seen them.
So however tiresome this marathon may turn out to be, I'm going to see it through until the end.

So here are the films I'll be watching and reviewing, all are part of my collection but I did try to only select one for each year except for 1922 where I added Haxan as it had been recommended to me.
I also tried to keep a mix between different directors and nationalities, thus I've got some German, Soviet, French, US and Spanish.