Thursday, September 29, 2011
A Favourite Silent Film
Use this post to make a comment for this week's assignment, please. The assignment is to explain which of the three full length silent movies you preferred and why. We watched The Kid, The General and Nosferatu. Write no more than 250 words or so. Multiple paragraphs are fine. Be sure to be specific when you explain your choice.
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I wanted to pick The General for my favourite silent film, but ended up choosing Charlie Chaplin’s, The Kid. Buster Keaton was a master, of that there is no doubt. The scene of him, disconsolate after being rejected by the woman he hopes to marry, riding on the side of the engine, going up and down with the wheels, is unforgettable (not to mention daringly dangerous; remember that Keaton did all his own stunts). It came down to, finally, the seriousness of purpose that is seen in Chaplin (and often is; I admire him as a great humanist of the 20th century) versus the desire to entertain with Keaton.
ReplyDeleteChaplin exposes social injustice while making me laugh at the same time. The crude expressions on the two orphanage employees as our heroine exits with a babe in arms leaves no doubt as to where Charlie Chaplin’s sympathies lay. But then we are hoping that the baby will survive a car theft and abandonment by the cartoon-like bad guys. Enter the tramp and scenes of pure delight as he tries, vainly, to rid himself to the child in the bundle. The film never fails to entertain me, no matter how many times I’ve seen it. For that, it is my number one.
As for Nosferatu, it didn’t haunt my dreams as much as it might have done 90 years ago. We’ve become desensitized to scenes of violence, mayhem, and gore. Nowadays, Murnau’s work doesn’t stand the test of time as well as do Keaton and Chaplin’s masterpieces. Still, although excrutiatingly slow, it was worth watching an early work of great devotion and skill on film.
274 words
Among three movies we watched in the class, I like Charlie Chaplin‘s The Kid most. I think Chaplin is the super star in silent movie era, not only because of his unduplicated body language, but also for his deep empathy with the poor. His performance had bonded with working class in many of his works; he was the one who brought laughter and tears to audiences at same time. This is why Chaplin is still one of the greatest actors in movie history. As for the other two movies, The General and Nosferatu, they were technically good at their time, but lack in meaning—how could you expect audience remember the cliché of romance or vampire? Anyway, all movies are significant in terms of their techniques; they are, of course, worth to mention in silent movie history.
ReplyDeleteI like Charlie Chaplin's The Kid more than the other films. Not because I love black and white silent films, but because I dislike the other two more. In Nosferatu, due to lack of technology, dialog often interrupts the flow of scenes and offers little to contribute to the story. The character's appeals and reactions are more than enough to communicate with the audiences. Plus, the unnecessary extended numbers of frames for the dialog was rather annoying. Charlie Chaplin is simply more funny than Buster Keaton. Too bad that was also one of his last film before his movie career was over. If I lived in the era where there is only black and white movies, I'd watch Charlie Chaplin's movies even if they made it without a script. Story-wise for all three films, not really the driving force behind the movie. These films are led by the characters and about the way the film communicates to us emotionally, that's questionable. Perhaps back in the days maybe.
ReplyDelete(Also, I am coming to class, just running a little late)
I liked the Kid, but was not able to view the whole movie so I am not going to choose that one. I did not like Nosferatu. It was to dark in contrast to see some of the scenes. I also thought it was boring and felt that the girlfriend over acted, which kinda ruined it for me. However I did like the Dracula character. He was creepy and odd looking. The movie left me with a horrible feeling. So I guess that leaves me with The General, which I did like. Buster Keaton was both funny and entertaining. I liked that he did his own stunts. And you could tell that he did them without support. The scene where he rides the arm of the wheel and when he gets on the nose of the train looked a bit scary. I liked when he would load the cannon as well. I thought that the characters told the story well with their body language and facial expressions. It was clear to me what was being said and what they where doing. Being a man saves woman movie, (being a train movie) I was glad they did not tie the girl to the train tracks. I did wonder if this would happen as I watched the film. I also liked that they kept it true to that era.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these movies with us. I was not a fan of the old movies, but you have now sparked my interest.
I love Charlie Chaplin’s, The Kid, so I picked "The Kid" for my favourite silent movie. The movie are a silence movie, but it completely catch my eyes and heart when I was watching it. At first, I felt sorrowful because the mother abandoned her baby, and the poor man take him to bring up. The baby lay down in the cradle, and hold the kettle to drink the milk himself. When he was five years old, he must cook the meal for his adopted father. He look like very poor when he licked the sauce on the knife.
ReplyDeleteThe movie was full of interesting and humourous. I love the scene that the kid fought with the other tall boy and won him. then the tall boy's brother came over to kicked the kid and his father. The kid run away and continuously faught with the boy. Even though the kid had won, his father still judged the boy was winner and raised the boy's hand. The next, The doctor promptly press the kid's back for examination. Then, his father shook out of dirt toward the doctor's face and showed the old letter within the newspaper when the doctor asked the kid identity. Those scenes presented the humour of the Charles Chaplin.
Finally, there was a happy and satisfied ending. The poor kid could went back his warm home to live with his mother. I think his kind mother will thank his father and gave him money to improve his life. The kind man finally got sweet repay.