Tabu 1931 And we are back to silents. There will always be those reactionaries. I have to say, it was a little bit of a jolt after watching sound pictures but remember? I have a great appreciation for silent movies now...blahblahblah.
So this film is a tragic love story. Two people fall in love, but alas it can never be. There are actually very few title cards which can lend itself to bad acting. We are safe from this, however, in Tabu. It is filmed in a documentary style like Nanook (Flaherty actually worked on this project). You don't know who Flaherty is? Well, too bad because I forget his first name. Robert? Richard?
I liked it and I usually don't like the director, Murnau. I think I mentioned I am a sucker for romance so this was right up my alley. Again, watching movies from different perspectives has always interested me, and this was filmed in beautiful South Asia. Of course, bits of it were kind of boring but it was worth it.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Sorry if I am choppy, I didn't have time to edit. Lots to do, lots to do.
Murnau died in a car crash before this was released.
Sunrise 1927 Well, this movie blew my mind in a couple of different ways. First off, I realized that quite a few things I had taken for fact were wrong. For instance, I always thought that the first Best Picture Oscar went to The Wings but actually there were two Best Picture Oscars that year. The first was for production which indeed went to the The Wings, but the second was for best unique and artistic production which went to this film. I also thought that the first talkie was The Jazz Singer but in reality this movie had a line of dialogue and several crowd scenes audible. So basically, everything we know is a lie.
This film is about a really attractive man who starts to have an affair with an urban woman. She talks him into killing his wife because for some reason it is always the woman who convinces the man to commit the murder. What is that about? Anyway, the husband chickens out and spends the rest of the day "making it up to her" (um, okay?). More stuff happens but I try to never spoil it for people.
This movie is really, really good. I know you are supposed to think that given that critics adore this film. Sometimes, you can't fight the mainstream and you just have to go with it, and this is one of those times. You can seen from the above picture how the sultry temptress haunts the main character. Each scene brings some new emotion or technique to the table (my favorite being the wedding scene), so I will not even attempt to vocalize anymore but rest assured you will be impressed. The acting is really good (which sadly is refreshing). The plot was not the greatest. If my husband tried to kill me, let's just say he would not be able to make up for it with a stroll in the city. The movie is never boring though, so it is definitely worth a watch.
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Ranked #82 in AFI's top 100. I think we will see every movie on the list through the course of the book.
Anybody who is anybody knows that Murnau hates title cards (I am kidding of course; even I am not that pretentious)! They become virtually nonexistent towards the end of the film.
Der Letzte Mann The Last Laugh It finally happened. Our fantastic movie streak has come to an end. I did not expect this from the Germans. They had created such gold before and now this? Sigh...
If you look up this movie, you will probably read about critics whining about the "tacked on happy ending." Still, at least when you got to the end stuff happened. The rest of the movie is just following around the delightful creature I have pictured above. Look, it is sad that the guy lost his job but shit happens. It sucks, but do something about it. I hate whiners. Name another movie where the whole story is about a guy losing his job. You cannot, because even if that is an element of the film, other stuff happens!
Okay, so zero on the entertainment scale. Let's move on to this movie's influence. First of all, there are very few title cards. The plot, though shitty, is able to move along without them. That is a huge step in the right direction. I would argue that Sherlock Jr. did that too and that movie didn't suck but whatever. Also, apparently the happy ending that was demanded by studios was kind of a "fuck you" to them. Stick it to the man!
I appreciate what the film did then but I do not like what it was.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
The first dolly was made for this film. A dolly allows the camera to move during shots. Again, a case of being impressed with the movie's influence but not the actual movie.
There is very little about this film that is actually interesting so I will just leave it at that.
Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie Des Grauens
Nosferatu, A Symphony of Terror I think this is one of the most enjoyable movies that have been on the list so far, which is saying a lot because I whine incessantly about silent films. I am an avid fan of the book Dracula by Bram Stoker so I did not know if I would be indignant during this movie or pleased and fortunately it was the latter. First of all, Max Schreck is one scary looking guy as you can see (wtf is with his fingers?!??!). There is absolutely no dialogue in the book (it is all just letters or journal entries) which I thought was extremely fitting for a silent movie. The lack of dialogue, which is usually my biggest grievance, was actually entertaining, because that is how I pictured it from reading the book. I also thought the soundtrack was the best out of all the films. I think I am the only one who thinks so though because I surfed the web about this movie and everyone else thought it was annoying. I don't really know what that says about me...
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Bram Stoker's estate really did not want this to become a film. It was destroyed but resurfaced in other countries. The director also changed the names of some of the characters and changed the ending so he could say it was not exactly like the book. Kind of a jackass move there, Murnau. Most of the set is still intact in the village in Germany where it was filmed.
I do not want to ruin the ending for you, but when you do see it, you will be able to recognize a superstition about vampires modern day that they invented.
Here is the complete movie from YouTube. You can watch it right now; it is only 84 minutes.
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