day three - silent films

Films directed by Evgeni Bauer - random side note on the name, "Bauer" is German for farmer. It doesn't sound Russian to me. But anyway...

I thought that A Child of the Big City was a bit hard to follow. I got the initial dinner scene where Mary and Viktor meet, but then all of a sudden you are informed that she is ruining him, which I didn't really gather from the action. I don't understand how she could be as selfish as she was, given her own modest background, you would think that she would be very grateful for her new lifestyle and all the things that she had. Or at least I would like to think that. I was taken aback her reaction to the suicide outside her door, which I believe was Viktor, who had given her what she had. It really made her seem inhuman for just ignoring it and stepping over him, almost like choosing not to see him. Unlike her, Viktor tried to be compassionate - his breakdown when he finds her with her new lover is proof that he cares about her. I don't believe that she really cared for him, just the material things and the lifestyle that he was able to give to her. Technically I really liked the use of overlapping images, I don't know what to call it exactly - moving double-exposure? I thought it was really cool that that kind of special effect could be used in such an early film. I also noticed a zooming-in shot at the scene with the dancer at the party, which was probably also innovative at the time.

Of the 3 films, The 1002nd Ruse was my least favorite. I found the old man creepy; I don't know why he would stay with his wife if he was always so suspicious of her. I didn't really understand the woman's motivation for using the "ruses" on her husband that he kept pointing out to her. I guess it was just a little lost on me.

The Dying Swan was, I felt, the most developed film we watched today. I thought of a Poe story almost, with the theme of madness. I thought the artist guy was creepy from the first time I saw him on screen. I figured out he was probably going to kill her in the end, even before the dream sequence. I wondered why that was tinted blue-ish, if that had been done on purpose in the original or if the film had just been damaged with age or something. I also noticed that the dancing scene was tinted pinkish, and wondered about that too. I guess its an example of a very early "thriller". I liked the arms in the dream sequence and then as she was dying, I think the black and white really enhanced the creepiness of that, especially with the sharp contrast that creates and the clear expression in her eyes. I also really liked the music accompaniment to this film, even though it probably wasn't the same as the original score. I felt it really added to the mood.

I like the look of the images in the silent films, I feel like it is just as much a "novelty" today as it was then, because now it's something old and antique and thus interesting. I found myself distracted by things like their dated hair and clothing styles as well as all of the things they had in the background of each scene. It makes me think of my grandmother's high school yearbook from the 40s. I just like the look of that whole era, the first half of the 20th century, when everyone looked like they should be a classy movie star.

I liked watching the very early footage as well from the Lumiere brothers, just as a social experiment. It was funny to see how people reacted to being filmed. I also liked the slightly too fast pace, it made it more fun and almost comical, and reminded me a bit of animation, something like a hyper-real. I can understand how people were so unsure of it at first.

I think that's all I have for today...