Silent Film Marathon: Film 14

Luis Bunuel has been one of my favourite directors ever since I saw The Exterminating Angel, now one of my all time favourites films.
Ever since then I have been gradually gathering as many of his films as I can, and have watched some whereas others remained untouched, L'Age D'Or was one that remained untouched for some reason.

This was Bunuel's first feature length film, coming after the marvellous and iconic Un Chien Andalou, it isn't exactly a Silent film, so I kind of cheated by including it in the marathon. The early 30's was the real rise of sound in film, but despite the fact that an audio has been transposed onto this film it still lingers very much in Silent film territory.
So while the actors do technically "speak" their dialogue, the dialogue itself feels very detached from the images, much of the film contains no dialogue and is filmed in a traditional Silent film fashion and furthermore, intertitles are still used. So this strange film arrived at a time of great change and seems trapped between the two wildly different era's of Cinema.

Silent Film Marathon: Film 13

Now we come to the first Soviet film of the marathon.
The most famous of these Soviet propaganda films of he Silent Era would undoubtedly be The BattleShip Potemkin by Eisenstain. But I had already seen that and decided to watch and review a less well known film of the same nature.
Thus I have chosen a film by Alexander Dovzhenko, a Ukrainian director who was one of the most important is the Soviet Union at the time.

I can't say I particularly like these kind of propaganda films but I felt the Soviet Union should be represented at least once in my marathon.
But now after watching this film, I kind of regret that decision.

Silent Film Marathon: Film 12

This is a film that was considered lost for many years after it's release, due to several accidents and fires. But luckily it was discovered again in 1981 and restored in 1985.
It has since been recognised as one of the masterpieces of the Silent era and Falconetti's performance in particular has received large amounts of praise.

 Technically a French film, under the title of La Passion De Jeanne D'Arc, it was however directed by a Dane. This is the second film directed by a Dane in this marathon, the first being the exceptional Haxan. Dreyer is possibly the most well known Danish director of his time, who in addition to this film directed the somewaht cult Silent film, Vampyres and the non-silent film Ordet which many speak of extremely highly but which I have yet to see. 

Silent Film Marathon: Film 11

This film was probably one of my most anticipated films in this marathon so I was extremely glad when I finally got around to it.
Murnau is a director who has impressed me before, especially with Faust, and seeing as this film is often considered his finest, although it is far from being his most well known, I had high expectations.

 

Thankfully I was not disappointed, although the film was not exactly like I had thought it would be. 

Silent Film Marathon: Film 10

The third Murnau film featured in this marathon. After being rather unimpressed by the fist two I was starting to have my doubts about Murnau's films. So I wasn't exactly sure what to expect before watchign this film.

But it turns out that I was very pleasantly surprised. As Faust happens to be one of the best Silent films it has been my pleasure to see over the course of this marathon. 

Silent Film Marathon: Film 9

Of all the Silent films I've seen, I think Charlie Chaplin's are by far the most accessible to modern audiences.
His comedic talent remains just as impressive despite the number of years that have gone by, it is still just as brilliant as when it was released.
Even for those unfamiliar with Silent films, even for those with little more than a fleeting interest in Cinema, Chaplin is something that will be enjoyed. 

So how could I possibly leave out some of his work from my Marathon ?
Even though I will only be reviewing two of his films, I think that will be a fitting enough tribute to one of Cinema's greats.

The first film is:

Silent Film Marathon: Film 8

The second film of legendary director F.W. Murnau to appear in this marathon, but certainly not the last.

Murnau is a director who achieved legendary status with his film Nosferatu, which is by far one of the most well known Silent films ever made. It is iconic.
But I decided I shouldn't just leave my knowledge of his work there, even if I was disappointed by Nosferatu I decided to explore more of his rather small filmography.
This time I thought I would choose one of his lesser known films, The Last Laugh - 1924

End Of The Week Post

Well, I got bored of posting two posts at the end of each week, so I've just combined them into one. I noticed only one of the two posts got many comments anyway so I think it will be better this way.

Films Seen This Past Week:


Phantom Of The Paradise - 1974 directed by Brian De Palma
9/10
I have never been a fan of De Palma's work, but recently a saw Blow Out and proclaimed it the best of his films I had seen, and now I've seen Phantom of The Paradise I'll proclaim it the second best of his that I've seen. It's a wildly entertaining reinterpretation of Faust that I thought would be the kind of "so bad it's good" film, but I was wrong, it's actually an excellently shot, decently acted film with some brilliantly campy set and costume design. 
It was perfectly paced and I wasn't bored for a second, I would highly recommend this for those looking for something really entertaining.