CarlosERM

My rating: 7.0/10

My opinion on the film:

Epic in scope and ambition and with thought-provoking thematic elements, Foolish Wives by Eric von Stroheim, released in 1922, is the kind of Hollywood film made with an artistic freedom and vision that wouldn't be seen again for several decades. Certainly von Stroheim wasn't entirely free after production was completed since his originally intended over-6-hour long cut had to be trimmed down for logical reasons to a final version of around 2 hours; however, his absolute control over the storytelling is still evident in the available version. He wrote it and starred in it as well, giving evidence of his well-known status as a true author of the silent era.

It tells the story of a con artist who's an expert in getting money from rich ladies that poses as a member of Russian nobility in Monte Carlo who sets out to seduce the wife of an U.S. ambassador. It explores themes such as lust, greed and evil, and the plot is clearly somber from the start. The storytelling was solid and as far as sets and costumes are concerned, its large budget was noticeably put to a good use. It resorted to some ambiguous elements I personally wasn't very pleased by and its pessimistic tone can be too much to handle sometimes, but there's no doubt that in several ways this was a commendable and ahead-of-its-time piece of work.

My rating: 9.0/10

My opinion on the film:

Some years back I watched D.W. Griffith's two most famous and acclaimed films, The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages, and I liked neither of them. They're absolutely remarkable achievements for their time and not in vain they're considered among the most influential works from the silent era, but personally, in spite of them having some great moments, I found them excessively long and somewhat dull. Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl is quite different, though. It was only 90 minutes long and comparatively it is a much smaller film with far less epic ambitions. I think it's a masterpiece of its time and a truly powerful and emotionally engaging film.

Set in a seedy London district, Broken Blossoms is a story about a fragile and unfortunate girl who lives with her brutish, abusive, and drunken father; one day after being horribly beaten and whipped by him, she wanders aimlessly in the streets suffering a terrible pain and by chance ends up falling through the door of a lonely Chinese immigrant's store. Unbeknownst to her father, she is now being taken care of by the Chinese man in his room above the store, and when he finds out that's when things take a more violent and tragic turn. What I've just recounted constitutes the story's climax and it was simply extraordinary.

This heartbreaking and terribly depressing tale was shot with an intensity that's unusual for its time. Griffith in this melodrama excels in storytelling, use of close-ups, and direction in general. I liked it enormously.

Finally, I would add that acting in the silent era required completely different abilities since facial expression was the key to convey what the lack of spoken words didn't allow, and in this picture Lillian Gish gives a master class of silent screen acting. Her powerfully evocative performance did nothing but to enhance the film's impact.