Before D. W. Griffith revolutionized filmmaking as we know it today, his style was like the rest of them. This film is of course among countless examples of his early work at Biograph studios where we witness the same old type of shooting style that had been used in pretty much every film up until this point: long shots, one after the other, basically turning the film into a stage play. The story - in which a rich son is robbed by his own parents because they don't recognize him - also isn't extremely original, but for twelve minutes it does its job well even if there's not the suspense there that Griffith would later champion.
However, one has to give credit where credit is due, and it is important in the case of this particular film to note the use of closeups in a couple spots, which certainly stick out among the more stagy aspects of the film. Griffith was expanding his vocabulary so to speak, and the closeups, while not anything to write home about, do play a significant role in the plot of the film. As it is, "The Son's Return" should primarily be seen as an example of Griffith's evolution from a run of the mill film director to a brilliant innovator of motion pictures, and fans will certainly find this one worth checking out for that alone.
However, one has to give credit where credit is due, and it is important in the case of this particular film to note the use of closeups in a couple spots, which certainly stick out among the more stagy aspects of the film. Griffith was expanding his vocabulary so to speak, and the closeups, while not anything to write home about, do play a significant role in the plot of the film. As it is, "The Son's Return" should primarily be seen as an example of Griffith's evolution from a run of the mill film director to a brilliant innovator of motion pictures, and fans will certainly find this one worth checking out for that alone.