Decades of Cinema - 10 Best of the 1920's

In high school I took a film studies class and it opened my mind up to the idea that cinema was an art form rather than just an entertaining distraction. At one point during the class, our teacher announced that we would be watching the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece Vertigo soon and one of the other students made their lack of excitement abundantly clear to the whole room. The teacher asked her to share her frustrations and she said "Isn't that movie old? Is it even in color?"

I never shared such concerns with that young lady, as I have always had an open mind for the history of film and even (gasp!) movies that were filmed in black and white. That being said, it wasn't until relatively recently, the past few years to be exact, that I really started to explore eras of cinema like the silent pictures of the 1920's. I now know what a shame it would be to ignore such a decade and write it off as "too old", as even 90 years later, so many movies from that era truly are treasures.

Thus I have decided to do a decades project, counting down the ten best films from each starting with the 20's.

10. Seven Chances

The silent era of film featured three comedic stars, all of which will be making appearances in this list of ten. One of those men was Buster Keaton and his film Seven Chances is a delight. The story revolves around a man named Jimmy Shannon (played by Keaton) who discovers that he stands to inherit seven million dollars from his grandfather as long as he is married by 7 P.M. on his 27th birthday, which just so happens to be the very day he discovers this news. 

The plot is absurd of course, but one shouldn't look to the silent era comedies for realism. What matters here is how funny Seven Chances is, because the slapstick material is executed wonderfully by Keaton and some of the set pieces are remarkably memorable.

9. Steamboat Bill Jr.

Two films down, two Buster Keaton entries, and much of what I said about Seven Chances would apply here because the style of comedy is the same and the execution is still top notch. If you are a fan of films from this era or Keaton in general and have not seen either of the two listed thus far, I do suggest you check both out. A lot of laughs to be had here.

8. Sherlock Jr.

That's right, make it three for three. Same as above only even funnier this time around, and the beauty of these Keaton films is their ability to fit into practically any schedule. Very short running times packed to the brim with fun.

7. Man With a Movie Camera

An experimental and groundbreaking film, Man With a Movie Camera is a non-narrative silent documentary and in order to truly appreciate it, you have to recognize the way it changed cinema forever. Featuring some breathtaking and exciting shots, this is a film that was way ahead of its time.

6. The Gold Rush

Obviously you knew this wouldn't be a list simply loaded up with Buster Keaton yet totally void of any Chaplin, right? One of the greatest entertainers of all time, Charlie Chaplin had a brilliant mind for comedic timing and delivery and also how to form a meaningful, emotional narrative around it. The Gold Rush is a wonderful example of all of this.

5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

The work of F.W. Murnau is still for the most part unfortunately unseen by me, but one of the few efforts of his I have had the pleasure to witness is the silent classic Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. Featuring a surprisingly dark and twisted premise about a man who plans to kill his wife so that he can run off with his mistress, what comes out of it is a powerful story of true, profound love, painful regrets and forgiveness. A film that can be described as beautiful in more ways than one.

4. Safety Last

I recall a discussion I heard about the two stars of the silent era, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. I have learned that it truly was a three horse race because Harold Lloyd was a gifted entertainer as well. I have seen a handful of his work now and without a doubt Safety Last is his finest achievement, so funny and some amazingly memorable moments (like the image above).

3. The General

Buster Keaton clearly wins the 1920's for me when it comes to most appearances in my top 10 of the decade, and The General is the finest of them all. As fast paced and exciting as the runaway train depicted in the movie, anyone who thinks silent film equals boring film needs to check this one out and honestly tell me they still feel the same when after it ends.

2. Metropolis

I recently made some adjustments to my 100 favorite films of all time list and I bumped the silent science fiction masterpiece Metropolis into my top ten...yet it is not #1 of its own decade, so you know something special is coming up next. Metropolis is a haunting, brilliantly strange film and it feels far more advanced than something that was released nearly 90 years ago. Directed by Fritz Lang, this remains a landmark piece of cinema to this day, and it only took roughly 5 minutes the first time I saw it to understand why.

1. The Passion of Joan of Arc

You don't merely watch The Passion of Joan of Arc, you experience it. Ranked as my #3 favorite film of all time, this silent wonder shows the trial and eventual execution of Joan of Arc and the lead performance from Renee Jeanne Falconetti is quite possibly the greatest and most emotionally arresting I have ever witnessed.

If and when you do decide to experience The Passion of Joan of Arc (and you should), make sure you watch the version that includes the Voice of Light musical composition by Richard Einhorn. I know I sound hyperbolic, but these words apply here: it is probably my favorite usage of music in a film ever. Absolutely perfect, and the film as a whole is the best of the 1920's. 

The next list will cover my ten favorite films from the 1930's. The image above is from one that will make the cut.

The Trial of Joan of Arc Review

Normally I enter the experience of viewing a Robert Bresson film brimming with optimism, but the odds were stacked against The Trial of Joan of Arc before I even pressed play. By all accounts I was sitting down for a special, beautifully crafted film, which should come as no surprise considering the previous work I had seen by Bresson, yet I still had an impossible, comparable standard to reflect on throughout the movie. Fair or not, when the subject matter of one of the greatest cinematic achievements in history is revisited at a later date, it is going to get scrutinized under a much more powerful microscope. 

The Passion of Joan of Arc by Carl Theodor Dreyer tells the story of the trial and execution of Jeanne d'Arc without using a single word, and its haunting power is almost literally overwhelming. When it comes to my top five films of all time, it is typically difficult to find a work worthy of pushing their way into consideration yet the film by Dreyer had me questioning whether it was possible the single greatest movie ever made before it had even ended. So yeah, you can understand why a different approach at telling the story filmed decades later would be challenging to critique based on its own merits rather than constantly harping on its shortcomings in comparison.

Released in 1962, The Trial of Joan of Arc is undoubtedly an excellent film and had it been my first journey through this story I would likely be raving about it, but it simply does not have the power of the Dreyer effort. I could go through everything Bresson does right here and it would take forever to tackle all of the different aspects, yet a much more simple way to put it is this: in 1928 this story was told and it devastated me, with the last act viewed through wet, reddened eyes. Here, everything I appreciate about the craftsmanship of cinema was tickled and delighted, yet I felt no raw, stomach churning power, my soul not shaken in the slightest.

This review sounds unfortunately negative, which sucks because The Trial of Joan of Arc doesn't deserve it. It truly is a remarkable film. At the end of the day though, if I want to revisit this story again in the future (and I certainly will), I won't feel inclined to turn to the Bresson effort ever again.

4/5

The Passion of Joan of Arc Review

In a review posted in 1997, Roger Ebert wrote "You cannot know the history of silent film unless you know the face of Renee Maria Falconetti." What makes this statement fascinating is that anyone even remotely familiar with that era of film would think first of the stars of the time like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and perhaps Harold Lloyd, yet he invokes the name Falconetti as a necessary piece of cinematic knowledge. Was she a star at the time, a familiar face recognized from multiple silent classics? She was not. In fact, her lead role in The Passion of Joan of Arc was her one and only appearance on film during her life. It didn't require her to speak a single spoken line of dialogue, and yet it may just be the greatest single performance ever put to celluloid. 

Never has emotional anguish felt so real than in the eyes of Falconetti, which combined with the brilliant direction from Carl Theodor Dreyer makes this film a haunting and disturbingly beautiful experience, one of the few I can honestly categorize as feeling religious in nature. I am not a church going man, needing factual proof rather than faith to devote my life to any higher power, yet I get so lost while watching films like The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Tree of Life and to a slightly lesser extent the phenomenal Life of Pi that I can't help but wonder if some sort of unseen force was working behind the scenes, allowing such powerful themes to flourish in a motion picture. 

You can't simply watch a film like The Passion of Joan of Arc. If I had made popcorn prior to the start of the film, it would have been left untouched. If I had put too much ice in my soda, it would have been watered down by the time I took my first sip. The imagery in play during this absolute masterpiece from 1928 combined with the breathtaking "Voice of Light" musical score that was added to the film in 1994 by composer Richard Einhorn. While it might seem strange to watch a film released nearly sixty years before my own birth featuring music that wasn't even composed until I was already ten years old, you must understand that when the film was first played for audiences in the late 20's, it featured music played live in the theatre by an orchestra. Those compositions and whether or not a definitive piece was ever chosen to accompany it is unknown, but music was always involved in the film, and "Voices of Light" is an achievement so grand it is worthy of being played along side the work of Dreyer.

This was my second viewing of The Passion of Joan of Arc, and my decision to place the film in my top 5 of all time after a single screening has been proven justified. Occasionally I am guilty of making proclamations of greatness that prove to be hyperbolic, and I am willing to admit that initial excitement and my passion for the medium got the best of me, but that simply isn't the case here. In fact I am wondering if perhaps I am underrating this film, because honestly, it just might be the greatest film ever made.

5/5