I want to ask you a question: how old do you think a movie is an old movie?
The other day I talked to a friend about a 90s film, and my friend said, "I rarely watch this kind of old movie." I was shocked, ah, it turns out that this is an old movie.
Another question: When you think of silent films, what is your first reaction?
Bored? dull? Can't look at it? drowsy? High-pressure? Or... Chaplin?
Another friend asked me what I was doing the other day, and I said I was watching a silent film. The other person replied, "Oh, Chaplin." "I was shocked again when Chaplin became synonymous with silent films???
Just recently digested a lot of silent movies. A selection of 15 of my favorites and a wave of recommendations.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="01" > Wu Yonggang</h1>
Let's start with the domestic movies we are most familiar with.
China's silent films first promoted "Goddess" - it represents the highest achievement of Chinese silent film, and it is also a representative work of left-wing films. Maybe some friends have seen some clips from "Ruan Lingyu" played by Maggie Cheung, but we might as well walk into this classic ourselves. We can probably start from three aspects.
The first is to rush to Ruan Lingyu to see. Of course, we should not only watch Ruan Lingyu's high appearance, but also enjoy her performance of conveying the gods. Looking at the performances of the actors in the silent film period from the current perspective, it feels slightly exaggerated. On the one hand, because the actors in the silent film cannot "speak", in order to accurately convey information, exaggerated body movements and expressions are often used; on the other hand, the film is still a new medium, the actors have not yet completely transitioned from stage performance to performance in the camera, and China is more influenced by the opera performance program. Ruan Lingyu was one of the earliest Chinese actors to perform in a natural style. You can feel her switching between different identities and different emotions: when standing on the street, she is extremely feminine; in the face of her son, she is a mother full of divinity; in the face of the rogue boss, she has fear and anxiety, and there is also a side of motherhood for the sake of children... Ruan Lingyu's empathy ability is so strong that it sprays straight out of the screen.
The second is director Wu Yonggang. The film is Wu Yonggang's choreographerial debut, after working as an artist at Lianhua Pictures and accumulating filmmaking experience. The scheduling of the whole movie is very skillful and full of charm. For example, as a prostitute, the director did not exaggerate the sexual part curiously, and used three sets of shots to show three receptions. The first time is a panorama, a medium scene, Ruan Sister-in-law and the man look at each other, which is the most intuitive one of the reception shots; the second time only close-up feet, women's feet pacing around, and then the man's feet into the painting, the woman and the man's feet together out of the painting, with the way of shooting parts to show the pick-up; the third is overhead shooting, under the street lamp Ruan sister-in-law and a man leave. The whole film is not blindly pursuing drama, but injecting poetic and delicate content. For example, the son does exercises at school and goes home to teach his mother. Full of everyday details and a human touch.
The third is the expression of the film. It not only talks about the greatness of maternal love, but also pays attention to the survival plight of the people at the bottom and accuses injustice.
In any way, "Goddess" is a perfect work in silent films.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="02" > "I was born, but..." by Yasujiro Ozu</h1>
Speaking of Yasujiro Ozu, many people think of the masterpieces "Tokyo Story" and "The Taste of Saury". Ozu's early silent films also seem to have been forgotten by many people.
This film is the only one in my chosen list that uses a child's perspective. A clerk moved to the suburbs with his wife in order to move to the vicinity of the boss. The twin brothers naturally changed to a new school, and new playmates appeared around them. Adults and children each stage a different game of thrones.
One night, the owner's son took the children to the house to watch a movie. The twins witness how the father of the nest laughs to please the boss. Unexpectedly, a movie pulled the father and the son against each other. The director used back-up shots to shoot the children who "tortured" their fathers and made them look like little adults. Fathers have always taught their children to be great when they grow up. The children begin to question the Father, you made us great, but you yourself are nobody. The father was completely enraged and beat the child. But when my father faced his wife, he sadly said that he didn't want to pat himself on the back, but all this was for our family to live better.
Children don't yet understand how complex the adult world is. At this time, there are no concepts such as "class" and "social status" among children, so there is a cognitive dislocation with adults. Perhaps, after the twins knew that the image of their father was not so great, this was the beginning of their maturity.
The first half of the film is Ozu's "childhood past", with a lot of humorous little details. At the end of the story, it is clear that it presents a depth beyond the children's film.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="03" > Buster Keaton</h1>
Let me make a mistake, Article 3 of the list does not recommend a specific movie, but recommends a filmmaker and all his works, Buster Keaton.
As I said at the beginning, because Chaplin is so dazzling, many people equate Chaplin with silent films. In fact, Chaplin is just an important piece of the puzzle in the silent film period. In the United States at that time, comedy was going through its first stage - stick comedy. The era of silent comedy produced three masters: Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. Of all three, I love Buster Keaton very much.
Never heard his name? So let me introduce him to you in a few words: Do you think it is difficult to make a live-action version of Tom and Jerry? If you want to see a live-action version of Tom and Jerry, go straight to Buster Keaton's movie! God knows how many Keaton bridges Tom and Jerry moved! (There is also a Jackie Chan movie that also moved Keaton's bridge section)
In that era when there were no computer special effects, Keaton was really shooting with real knives and guns. Every time I watch one of his works, I'm stunned: How did this work come about? Don't die? Indeed, people who have worked with Keaton say that "it's a miracle he survived this film." "Oh yes, Keaton has a title called "Cold Face Laughing Craftsman", no matter how embarrassing the dilemma he encounters, he maintains a cold face, and even just looking at his photos will feel a melancholy temperament - looking at such a face, why is it so funny?
If Chaplin's stick refers to others, and Chaplin is the abusive party, then Keaton's stick is directed at himself, masochistic. If Chaplin represents the lower class after immigration, Keaton symbolizes the American middle class. If Chaplin showed the contradictions between man and society, keaton showed the contradictions between man and the modern machines after the Industrial Revolution.
After the advent of sound movies, the exaggerated performance form of stick comedy was no longer believed, so it quickly declined. Unfortunately, Keaton also failed to make a successful transformation. Hollywood, in order to grab profits and let the wheels quickly roll forward, comedy ushered in its second era - neuro-comedy. As for Keaton, when we came to 1965 and saw him appear in the short film "Time Express", those who loved him would shed tears for him.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="04" > Ernst Liu Beiqian</h1>
Hollywood has three great theater masters, but don't forget that 100 years ago, Germany's Ernst Liu Beiqian had played comedy so crazy.
Don't think that fear of marriage is only available today. In this movie, you will see the image of a male protagonist who is afraid of marriage. A brother-in-law will inherit a large inheritance from his uncle, but only if he wants to start a family. Well, doesn't that sound like the setting of "The Richest Man in Xihong"? As early as a hundred years ago, the ancestors of the movie actually played all kinds of tricks.
The local girls learned that the little earl would have a large sum of money and embarked on a frantic pursuit. Dozens of women chased a man up and down, and there was a very funny scene. The little count thought of a way to buy a robot, but there was something wrong with the robot he ordered. The machine builder's daughter plays the role of a robot and "marries" the little earl, which triggers a series of jokes.
Not only is the dramatic situation designed to be fun, but the opening scene of the film is attractive enough. The camera shows a hand-drawn cardboard set, and then the actors come out of it, which makes people shine. This live-action and cartoon-style set is completely out of step with it. Liu Beiqian showed off his genius-like creativity.
This movie is about a marriage-phobic earl, and Liu Beiqian's other work in the same period, "Oyster Princess", tells a rich second-generation girl who wants to get married and thinks of crazy. It is also a silent comedy worth playing.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="05" > The Masses Kim Wido</h1>
After talking about comedy, let's recommend a tragedy again.
This is not the kind of tragedy that is full of life and death, and the kind of tragedy that breaks people's liver and intestines. By focusing the lens on the individual, the director reflects the whole – a social fable, a group tragedy.
The National Day of the United States in 1900, the arrival of the new century, is a day worth celebrating. A baby boy named John was born. The father was very happy and thought that this child must have great achievements in the future. Time flew by, and twenty-year-old John left his hometown with a dream of "I will succeed, I will get ahead" and came to work on Wall Street in New York. Subsequently, his life was not too dramatic, falling in love step by step, getting married, having children, waiting for promotion, and losing passion for husband and wife...
The death of the youngest daughter in an accident was the most dramatic event, almost causing the family to fall apart. The once spirited young man is still an inconspicuous clerk in a Wall Street office. Later, he left his job again, and whenever his wife asked him what he planned, he only said, "I just miss a chance", but he never practiced. The wife was already determined to leave him. Forced to make a living, he took a temporary job — dressing up as a clown and playing a ball on the street — but just a few years earlier, he had mocked the clowns who performed street performances. He became the kind of person he didn't want to be, perhaps hinting at the disillusionment of his American dream.
At the end of the film, his wife still gave him a chance. The couple took their son to the theater to see a burlesque show, and they laughed very happily. When you think it's a reunion ending, the director pulls the camera apart and thousands of groups of families similar to John pile up the shots, and John is caught in the middle of the crowd and can't escape. They are all numbing themselves with laughter, and the world is made up of big, heartless buildings and featureless faces.
The whole movie is not a melodrama, it is closer to real life. It will tingle after watching it, because we can see our own shadow in it. In comparison with The Moon and Sixpence, Charles Strickland, though he greeted death, realized his self-worth. John, on the other hand, was permanently confined to sixpence all over the earth.
Interestingly, the film was produced in 1928 — the year after that, an economic crisis broke out in the United States. The film is both an allegory and a prophecy.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="06" > Seventh Heaven, Frank Bausaki</h1>
The film won the first Academy Award for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actress, and was arguably the biggest winner of the first Oscar. With these awards, aren't you curious about this movie?
Not only that, but the film also managed to create a pair of on-screen CPs, namely Jenny Gaynor and Charles Farrell. That's right, the audience of that era was already in love with bump cp. The pair of screen CP also made a bunch of movies such as "Road Angel", "Sunny Beauty", "Lucky Star", "She's Just Mary Ann" and so on. I'm afraid it's often on the hot search today.
The heroine has a vicious sister who often abuses her. Once, when her sister beat her, she escaped from the house and was rescued by the man who was a sewer worker. The sister was taken away by the police for committing a crime, and the male protagonist, in order to help the sister, announced to the police that he and his sister were husband and wife. The police said they would send detectives to investigate. In desperation, the male protagonist can only lead his sister back to his home, and then drive her away after the detectives have finished investigating. Since he lived on the seventh floor of a house, he was called "Seventh Heaven" by her. Here was born a famous vertical shot in the history of cinema.
The detectives finished their investigation and the sister was supposed to leave. But the two are already in love. Until the outbreak of World War I separated the two.
The whole film is simple and moving, and the charm of the silent film lies in the carefully designed actions of the characters: looking at the stars at the window, the man looking away from the arched door, wrapping himself in the sleeve, the bride in a wedding dress coming from the window sill in the depth of space...
Feel the sweet love in the silent film!
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="07" > The Last Order by Joseph von Sternberg</h1>
The last one talked about the first Oscar after the film, this one to nag the best actor work.
The first Oscar winner came from Germany, called Emile Jennings. He's one of the male actors of the silent film era that I really like. With the advent of the era of sound films, many filmmakers could not adapt and were ruthlessly eliminated, but Jennings successfully came to the sound age, cooperated with Joseph von Sternberg to shoot "The Blue Angel", and brought Marlene Dietrich to the fire.
At the beginning of the film, we'll see a Hollywood director at work, and he's casting in front of a bunch of photos. Then we can see how the crazy group performers who were crowded outside the studio at that time got jobs. An old man was chosen to play the Russian general, but he was "bullied" by other group actors while wearing makeup. But this old man was indeed a general during the time of Tsarist Russia. After the outbreak of the Revolution in Russia, he fled to the United States to make ends meet in Hollywood as a group performer. The film begins to flash back, and it turns out that the director of the film is also part of the Russian Revolution, and his partner, a beautiful woman, approaches the Russian general in search of an opportunity to assassinate him— and unsurprisingly, she falls in love with him. The story itself is the story of Wang Jiazhi assassinating/falling in love with Mr. Yi (its age is earlier than "Color, Ring").
Interestingly, this version of Mr. Yi is a true patriot, he just lives in the old class. The concept of the film is rather ambiguous, the wheels of history roll forward, and a Tsarist general, the representative of the backward era, should be overthrown at a political/historical level. But stripped of his external identity, how could he not be a living person? And a very patriotic man.
The director from Russia playfully put him on the set in the costume of a Tsarist general and led the fighters in battle. The old people who live in the new era seem to return to their own era on the set of historical films. The director gave him a chance to win. He screamed, he fell. The director put the flag over him and the director's assistant said, "This is such a great actor." The director said: "He's still a great man." ”
The camera looks at the death of this old man. It seems to be sarcasm, but there are also lamentations.
< h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="08" >, "Hiji," F.W. Shigeru</h1>
This is the story of a man who has a woman outside and wants to kill his wife.
It's also like a parable. The people in the story have no names, the husband is called a man, the wife is called a woman, and the little three are called a woman from the city. The woman from the city induces the man to kill his wife, and the man invites the woman to go rafting on the river and then kills her. But at the critical moment, the man hesitated, and he couldn't get his hands on it. The woman understood what the man wanted to do, left in fear and sadness, and fled to the city by tram, and the man followed.
The story thus transitions smoothly from a melodrama that deliberately murders his wife to a romantic love drama in the second half. Men know their faults and try to be kind to their wives. In the city, they go to other people's weddings, they go to dinner, they go to the garden, they go to dance. However, on the way home, there was a little accident.
Recommend this movie, not just because of such a moral story. The film technically shocked four that year (although it didn't get much at the box office). In the era without Steadicam, in the era when there was no lightweight DV, camera movement was difficult, so the shots in silent film did not move particularly much overall. But this movie has a very good camera movement —
When the man went to look for Xiao San, the camera smoothly and freely shuttled through the potholed lawn, taking a perfect follow-up shot. To the shock of the time, the camera even crossed the fence. And as he followed, the man disappeared in front of the camera, and the camera moved on its own, through the trees, focusing on the woman from the city. At this time, the man re-entered the painting. In the 20s, a very nice long shot.
In addition, there are other fun tips. For example, when a man is tempted, a superimposed image appears. Or in the opening shot, a false perspective is used to shoot the train station. Or the subtitles are stuck when revealing the wife-killing plan, using the special effects of the subtitles being diluted to show that the woman will be drowned, and the subtitles are also involved in the narrative. Or when men and women walk around the city, they change the set to a freehand scene, and even a sound track appears (the sound movie is about to come out). Or do you ask the man if he's really awake and how to prove it? Then I would have chosen them to see the wedding scene, where the men shed tears under the holy pillar of light, and then the men and women walked out of the church as if they were a couple — they did have a new life.
For this reason, the film won the first Academy Award for Outstanding Works of Art. Jenny Gayno also won the best actress.
Don't think hollywood is so great. The pseudo-clairvoyance, the liberated cameras, studied German cinema to a large extent. The film's director, Mauna, is from Germany. What did he accomplish before he came to Hollywood?
See you in the next issue of silent film advanced film list!