I once took a course in this to satisfy my Philosophy requirements for my major. I loved it!
What is your favorite silent film, and why?
by avishai 38 Replies latest social entertainment
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Jim_TX
The Rink - Charlie Chaplin - 1916
http://www.reelclassics.com/Actors/Chaplin/chaplin.htm
It has got to be the BEST roller skating I have ever seen. I hear that it was the first time he had put on skates, too.
Anyway... quite a movie.
Regards,
Jim TX
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gaiagirl
Metropolis was amazing, especially when one realizes how many films have copied ideas, images, or themes to a greater or lesser degree. Just a few: The robot Maria was far and away the sexiest robot seen for decades, arguably still unsurpassed. Think of the robots of the 30s and 40's, which appear to be collections of various sizes of ductwork and metal boxes. Much improved were Robby in the 50s and the Lost in Space robot of the 60s, but they were still crude next to Maria. She appears to have been an inspiration for C3PO, both built in very similar style. Near the end of Metropolis, Maria, who has been clothed in human flesh in order to deceive people, is burned in a fire, and her robotic body beneath is exposed, to the horror of the people who have been blindly following her. More than 55 years later, the Terminator, which had been clothed in human flesh, was burned in a fire and the robotic body beneath was exposed, to the horror of all watching. As far as comedy films go, Mel Brooks made a silent film in the 70s, titled appropriately enough "Silent Movie". It starred Mel himself, and Bernadette Peters. I saw it once, and remember liking it.
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GentlyFeral
gaiagirl,
Mel Brooks made a silent film in the 70s, titled appropriately enough "Silent Movie"
I still chuckle over the one title card: Dom Delouise to Mel Brooks:
Mel, I need a blueberry pie...badly.
GentlyFeral
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Leolaia
I grew up on Harold Lloyd as a kid, as they were shown on PBS. But I first really discovered silent movies in my high school English class, which was partly taught by a university student who kinda turned it into a cinematography class (he was really into David Lynch at the time, late '80s). Anyway, he showed us on video a nice sepia-colored edition of "Voyage to the Moon" (1902). He asked us if we had any music and one girl in the class had a really great moody synthpop tape and I remember well how good the music was and how good the movie was, and how nicely the two went together....and that was it for me! :)
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Leolaia
I also like silent movies because I love the 1920s. Times were good (that is until October 29, 1929, LOL), the music was good, I loved the fashions and styles and art, and society was in some ways more open and libertine....if there was an era I could visit with a time machine, that would be it....
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avishai
I've just been watching "Sunrise" directed by F.W Murnau (nosferatu). It's a love story and one of the best films I've ever seen. He uses hardly any titles. I'm so choked up. This movie is incredible.
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Narkissos
Santa Claus just brought me Murnau's The Last Man (Der Letzte Mann)!