[littlemissattitude]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Carl Dreyer:
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Stripped-down, moving and intimate protrayal of the last moments of Joan, brilliant lead performance)
Vampyr (Very interesting slow-paced and extremely surreal vampire gothic).

These are two of the best films I've ever seen...period, not just of silent films. I just finally got to see The Passion of Joan of Arc a few months ago (and I think I posted a review over on that thread). I'd been wanting to see it since I was about 10 years old and read about it, but never got to do so before. Usually when that happens, I've built the film up so much in my mind that I'm disappointed with the reality. Not so with this one.

I approached Vampyr from a very different perspective. I'd never heard of it and found it on the "foreign films" aisle of the video store quite by accident. I think I spent about an hour speechless after watching it, I was so amazed. Just from the point of view of some of the effects, I didn't know they could do some of that stuff back when Vampyr was made.

I also have to say that the aforementioned Metropolis just amazed me when I first saw it in a film class. It is very stylized in some ways (which is what might have been part of Esioul's problem with it when she mentioned it on another thread, along with the anachronistic score), but that actually is one of the things I like most about it.

I think you'll find Birth of a Nation interesting, Foxbat. I assume you know some of its history, how controversial it was even when it was made, considering who are depcited as the heroes of the piece. Some people here in the States won't even watch it because of its noteriety, and as recently as a few years ago public showings have been cancelled because people threatened violence if the showings went on. That aside, it's an amazing piece of work. Nothing like it had ever been seen before. And, of course, I'm especially intrigued by it because the man who played John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, in the film, was our neighbor when I was young. After we moved from that house and my grandmother moved back in, I can remember him coming down his orchard to talk to Grandma across the fence when I would be staying with her and she was out doing yardwork. Keep in mind that when he jumps from the box to the stage and limps off after he shoots Lincoln, he wasn't just acting. He really hurt his leg when he landed.

And, on a slightly (?) less serious note, I've always loved the old silent comedy shorts, especially Chaplain and the Keystone Kops. Oh, and if you've not seen The Great Train Robbery, you really should, just from a historical standpoint. I'd also recommend some of the silent documentaries, especially Nanook of the North and Grass. Grassis from the same people who later made King Kong.