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Lucky you to see this on the big screen!

Posted by Harmonia (A) on September 13, 2008 at 11:24:01

In Reply to: Sunrise (1927) posted by delboy on September 13, 2008 at 07:06:42:

And with Brownlow...whew!

Sunrise is of the great movies of all time - and hugely influential. It is on my top ten list of greatest films of any era. Brownlow will annotate its virtues far better than I!

In many way, silent films are the purest form of cinema.

Other must sees of major silent cinema IMO would be:

The Passion Of Joan of Arc, by the great Dane, Carl Dreyer - monumental, incredible film, it gobsmacked me first time I saw it. Brilliant use of editing in close-up, oft emulated but never surpassed. Falconetti's performance as Joan is for the ages. Also check out Dreyer's early sound masterpiece Vampyr, as well as his later films.

Pandora's Box, Pabst - Phenomenal performance by Louise Brooks, one of the great screen portrayals of all time. Despite the German Expressionist sets and cinematogrpahy, PB ii surprpisingly modern in sensibility, more naturalistic than expected, materfully filmed and edited. It's also highly erotic - ain't no Hayes Code here. This one is also on my all time ten best list.

Metropolis, Fritz Lang - see the restored version, but do see it if you haven't already. An iconographic film, one of the most referenced movies in the history of cinema - you can hardly avoid its narrative and visual tropes in sci-fi and distopian genres. Yet Metropolis remains a powerful experience.

Battleship Potemkin, Sergei Eisenstein - Seminal film from the great Russian genius, Eisenstein would go on to make even greater films, but this remarkable movie demonstates his principles of storytelling through editing in astonishing fashion. His passion pours through every frame, mainly via the sophisticated editing, which lends this silent a modern feel. One of the most influential films of all time, the Odessa steps sequence has been oft emulated, most famously by Brian De Palma in The Untouchables.

The above, along with the silent films of Chaplin and Keaton, rank as truly great cinema IMO and should be seen by anyone who even remotely cares about film. Sunrise, Passion of JoA and Pandora's Box are great films - period.

Other essential viewing:

Napoleon, Abel Gance - really designed for and needs to be seen on the big screen, but see it some way.



Nosferatu, Murnau again, very creepy. Very unsettling.

The Last Laugh - Murnau yet again, mainly for the hearbreaking performance of Emil Jannings.

The Wind, Lillian Gish in her greatest role, and a fine film, depsite the studio forced "happy ending". Forgot director's name.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Robert Wiene - The icon of German Expressionism, justly famous for its use of sets and lighting, plus off kilter framing, to reflect a disturbed mind. Cabinet is to the horror and noir film genres what Metropolis is to sci-fi.

Underworld, Josef von Sternberg - Early crime thriller and proto-gangster movie, hard to find, alas. A touchstone for future noirs and crime dramas.

Wings, Wellman - First Academy Award winner, not the greatest of the sileents, but of interest for its remarkable aerial footage, a template for future war and action movies.

Don't for a moment think that because they're comedies, the work of Chaplin and Keaton are somehow "lesser" movies. There are arguments galore in film studies over who is the greater, a futile discussion IMO, as these artists are so different from one another. Each also highly regarded the other's work.

Chaplin - a genius. There's a lot of material by the prolific Chaplin, too. He made "silents" well into the sound era, having wisely concluded that his onscree persona, The Little Tramp, should be seen and not heard (we do finally hear him sing in Modern Times.) These "silents did, however, inlcude sound effects and musical soundtracks well into the thirties. The wonderful Modern Times is essentially a silent, as is the celebrated City Lights.

The Gold Rush
Easy Street
The Immigrant
The Circus
The Pilgrim
The Kid
The Rink
A Woman
Sunnyside
Shoulder Arms
One AM

Keaton - also a genius. Advanced film art perhaps more than Chaplin, as Keaton is all about movement, and less about personal performance.

Sherlock Jr.
The General
Seven Chances
The Navigator
Steamboat Bill
The Cameraman

And everyone should see Harold Lloyd's Safety First - no CGI here!


There's a big name missing from my recs. I find the films of D.W. Griffith, an important and and pioneering filmmaker, rather hard to digest. I saw many of the famous (and some not so famous) back in art school days and don't have much of a desire to see them again. The racism in Birth of A Nation is repellent to me. The epic Intolerance is the better film anyway, innovative for its scope and weaving of 4 interrelated stories together from different historical periods. Despite its impressive sets, memorable set pieces and massive ambition, Intolerance doesn't rank with the greatest films of the silent era IMO. The melodramas like Orhpans of the Storm wear a bit better for me, although I never watch them. Another inmate may have stronger feelings for Griffith than I and offer better insight and historical perspective of the highly influential Griffith.

I'm sure I've left some good silents out - there's no Asian silents listed - but this would surely get you started.

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