Silent Film

A Trip to the Moon is the most famous movie by Georges Méliès, who made over hundred films, mostly in theatrical manner, and is pioneer of special effects. This film is considered to be the first SF film and it's one of the most influential films in history. When Méliès retired from movie industry most of his films were lost, but later he was recognized and acknowledged and search for his work has begun. This one was found around 1930. and in 1993. they also found its original hand-coloured print. Even if we ignore how good this was for 1902, and watch it only from today's perspective, this film is still so beautifully imaginative and fun. From me

10/10

Have in mind that this is over a hundred years old

I do not feel competent to evaluate the 1915 film. I love old movies and I watched hundreds, but for the assessment of the film it is necessary to look at things from the perspective of its time, and this one is too far for my abilities. For me, it was not spectacular, but I think it should be a compulsory lecture for every true cinephile.

6/10 (just my subjective experience)

It was unwatchable to me

I love black and white movies, but I am not a fan of the silent era. Still, I find most of the silent movies I saw so far really well-done and some even quite entertaining. But to watch this, one must have endless patience. I mean nerves made of steel. To me, this was torture and I barely made it through. I respect production efforts, which are enormous, but in terms of entertainment, this is probably the most boring thing I have ever seen.

3/10

The hour and ten minutes isn't a long time in relation to the average duration of the movies, but it is way too long in relation to the story this movie tells. One of the slowest things I've ever seen in my life. It's perfectly done for its time, but it's so slow that I started to freak out after ten minutes. I had the impression that it was made as 20 minutes film and then released in slow motion version. That thought gave me an interesting idea, so I made an experiment and increased playback rate. Even without trying it was clear to me that x2 won't be nearly enough, so I jumped directly to x3 and cut the movie down to 23 minutes. The result... the movie was still slow (really unbelievable) but watchable. The only problem is that this way experience is deprived of the atmosphere the music creates. But that's the best solution I've managed to figure out without shutting down the movie halfway through and throwing a complete computer through a closed window. Don't get me wrong, I understand its epoch, I recognize the qualities of this film and its influence, but I was not born a hundred years ago and I have a brain that functions in the 21st century, and which simply can not switch to the time of my great-grandmother and enjoy five minutes worth of story stretched for over an hour of unbearable boredom. I felt like I was stuck in rush hour traffic, driving a new Lamborghini one mile per hour. Terrible experience.

4/10

Be patient

It's pretty tiresome to watch four hours of a black and white silent movie, which was cut to two hours seventy years ago and then, in our time, restored to original length by using photos from shooting to replace lost material... But it is definitely worth your patience. In the beginning, it may seem too stretched and even boring, but as you watch for some time it starts to pull you in and all shortcomings slowly fade from sight until you are left with a strong impression.

7/10

With all due respect, I simply do not like him

Screenplay, directing, leading role, narrator, music... all done by Chaplin himself. But as much as I admire his genius and legacy and as much as this movie is great, Chaplin's appearance is extremely irritating to me. With all due respect, I simply can not stand the guy.

6/10

"Undoubtedly the best train film ever made"

I do not like silent movies, but this one held my attention from the beginning to the end. I was so preoccupied with it that I didn't even smoke one cigarette. Train chasing during the Civil War in America, a comedy that deserves at least 7/10 at today's standards, and considering that this is a silent film from 1926...

9/10

The best silent film I have ever seen

A beautiful, perfectly filmed story about love, passion, guilt, and redemption. In my opinion, his sin is unforgivable, but if you are able to get over that, you'll enjoy for sure. Camera, directing, acting, music, everything is perfect. The movie leans on German expressionism and it truly is visual work of art. This is the only movie in history to win Academy Award for Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production, maybe because it was the single year that award existed, and maybe because no movies deserved it ever after. Besides that, it won Best Cinematography and Best Female Leading Role. The film keeps the attention and conveys strong emotions. This is the very best silent movie I ever saw.

8/10

The oldest preserved Dracula movie.

"This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war..."

Erich Maria Remarque

8/10

I really do not like this guy

I'm not a fan of silent film and, to me, Chaplin is creepy, like something that escaped from a nightmare. But the final scene of this film is rightfully considered one of the best movie scenes in the history of cinema.

My overall impression: 4/10
Ending scene: 10/10

Perfect nightmare

This movie is completely different than anything I've ever seen. The plot is pretty much vague and deviates from the original story by Edgar Allan Poe. It is horrifying slow and story itself is inessential for the film, it is just a background for an artistic cinematography. Jean Debucourt is excellent in the leading role while all other characters are dim and unreal, like they are just parts of his dream. I did not like the music background in this movie at all. In my opinion, it does not contribute to the movie, but rather spoils it. But, the gloomy and eerie atmosphere of this masterpiece can not be spoiled. This movie absolutely deserves honorary Best Cinematography Oscar, because the way it is filmed is ingeniously hypnotizing and scenes that flow before your eyes will mesmerize you into a perfect nightmare. Visually speaking, this is one of the very best movies I have ever seen, and not only in the context of the black and white era, but in the whole history of cinematography.

8/10 for the movie as a whole, but 10/10 for cinematography

The Call of Cthulhu is adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft short story of the same name, and probably the most faithful adaptation of Lovecraft overall. Story is placed in 20's and this 47 minutes film completely imitate movies from that era. It's made as black and white silent movie, with noise, low resolution, film damage, over-acting men with lipstick and eye make-up, and everything that goes with it. Fans of Cthulhu mythos will be glad to finally see adaptation worthy of this horror legend, but to others I must advise to skip it.

6/10

And I do not like silent film...

When USA joined WWI, young dawdler from a wealthy family decides to prove that he isn't parasite and enlists in the army. In France, he befriends two comrades from the working class and falls in love with a young Frenchwoman. The first part of the movie romanticizes the situation and in the warm, funny and entertaining way shows troops in the background killing time, as well as the love between our main hero and the girl on whose land the US military is stationed. John Gilbert and Renée Adorée are one of the sweetest movie couples I have ever seen and I fell in love with them at first glance. But soon the moment comes for the army to shift to the front, and the second part of the film shows all the horror and absurdity of the trench warfare. This is the first Hollywood film which, instead of war propaganda, shows war in a realistic manner with all its horror. At first I hesitated to engage in this adventure, because I doubted that I could bring myself to watch a black-and-white silent film as much as 150 minutes, but this combination of romantic comedy and anti-war drama is shot so great, that I did not have the impression of watching a movie almost a hundred years old. On the technical side, this film is perfect for its time, and the atmosphere and emotions are so powerful that your attention will not slack for a moment. In my evaluation, of course, I took into account that the film was from 1925, but even regardless of age, I would not go below nine out of ten.

10/10

One man's show

Chaplin's ingenious critique of modern society and industrialization. Writer - Chaplin, director - Chaplin, music - Chaplin, male leading role - Chaplin, female leading role... Chaplin's wife. One man's show that doesn't get old.

8/10

Genre: Racist Boredom

If we, because this movie is from 1919, ignore the racism of the fact that a white American plays an Asiatic, and even such a racist extreme that his character is not mentioned by name or at least nationality, but simply as The Yellow Man, although he is the main character in the movie, Richard Barthelmess looking extremely unbelievable and even foolish is something I cannot ignore. Poetic writings between scenes are to throw up, and the movie is terribly slow and boring, so after about ten minutes I was already bored to death. The only reason that I continued to watch is that it is considered one of the best movies of all time. I'm anxious to know who are the ones with such opinion... I believe that the film presents a then realistic problem in a realistic way and I am aware of my own inability to objectively observe this film from the perspective of its contemporaries, either from a technical, or from an artistic side, but having in mind only five years younger and very good "Greed", as well as "Birth of a Nation" which is from the same director and even four years older and which has kept my attention for more than three hours, I give my self a right to rate this agony of a movie

2/10

"Umro je drug Tito"

One of the most original films I've ever seen is composed entirely of scenes stolen from other films. Hungarian director György Pálfi has made a universal romantic drama, skillfully and humorously combining clips from several hundred films, so black and white and color scenes, different genres and shooting techniques, actors, locations and epochs, rapidly alternate before our eyes, all followed by nicely blended music, also borrowed from other films and series. Clips were reportedly downloaded from torrent sites and, in order to avoid copyright lawsuits, the film was published as educational material by the Hungarian University of Film and Theater. It may seem confusing and even unwatchable at first, but do not let it deter you, because you will get used to it very quickly and after a few minutes you will no longer need extra concentration. The idea is ingenious, a realization hypnotizing, and I am afraid to even speculate how extensive his knowledge of world cinema is, as well as how much time and patience it took to assemble and edit this madness. Even if we disregard all the other qualities, the effort itself deserves a maximum rating. Bravo!

10/10

Silent musical

Although "The Jazz Singer" is the first musical, this film is for the most part still a silent film, with synchronized sound only in music performance scenes. It is significant as a turning point in the history of cinema and has a quite emotional ending, but the overall impression it left on me is rather weak and there is no chance that I could force myself to watch it again.

5/10

"Tate University - A large football stadium, with a college attached."

The naive nerd comes to college with the desire to become popular at any cost. To that end, he imitates the main character of his favorite movie "The College Hero", and other students support him in that, laughing behind his back. Since the most popular student is the captain of the football team, our clumsy decides to try his hand at American football and become the new star of Tate College.

"The Freshman" is the most successful film by Harold Lloyd, who, together with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, makes a holy trinity of comedians from the silent film era. It is considered the first sports comedy and the founder of the college comedy genre.

This satire of life in college is a combination of slapstick comedy and situation comedy, with the now-classic lesson of how to stay true to yourself and be who you are, while pretending to be something you think others expect from you will not bring anything good.

In its time, the blockbuster that caused a flood of similar films in the following years, "The Freshman" did not age badly and I think it can entertain even the younger generations, accustomed to modern adrenaline injections, if they approach it without prejudice.

8/10

The origin story of Uncle Fester

Charles Chaplin's first feature-length (an hour) film combines his well-known slapstick comedy with a highly emotional drama.

The tramp finds a baby next to a dumpster and raises it as his own child. Five years later doctor finds out that the child is not really his, and the police try to take the boy away and place him in an orphanage.

I never liked Chaplin and I find his slapstick quite boring, so the comedy aspect of "The Kid" was not particularly funny to me, and the dream sequence was really too much, but Jackie Coogan was an adorable child, who performed the role perfectly, and the dramatic aspect of the film is strong.

I can't quite agree with the IMDb list that it's one of the best movies of all time, but it's certainly very emotional and impressive and I warmly recommend it.

9/10