Welcome to 5 Favorites. Each week, I will put together a list of my 5 favorites (films, performances, whatever strikes my fancy) along with commentary on a given topic each week, usually in relation to a specific film releasing that week.
After 170+ issues, I find myself spinning my wheels more often than not with this feature, so I thought I’d wind it down in compelling fashion by looking at my 5 favorite films each decade, ending with the current one that’s barely even started. With so few films watched in the 1920s and earlier, I’m putting them together here. Some films like The Great Train Robbery and Suspense were shortlisted for this set, but these are my ultimate five favorites.
A Trip to the Moon (1902)
In 1902, projected motion pictures were still in their infancy. Following Auguste and Louis Lumière’s successful demonstration of Cinématograph, the medium took off. As with his French contemporaries, Georges Méliès had been perfecting the concept of narrative filmmaking and his pinnacle of achievement has to be Le Voyage Dans La Lune, translated into English A Trip to the Moon. Adopting an over-the-top theatrical style, Méliès starred in the film as a scientist who develops a space ship and launches it towards the moon where all manners of fantastical scenes presented themselves.
For some, sitting through silent pictures is a chore, but for audiences in the early part of the 20th Century, these fascinating short features were incredibly popular and directly influenced the shift away from Nickelodeons into large theatrical venues where motion pictures were shown side-by-side with piano accompaniment. It would be another 25 years before sound-on-film technology would come to the fore, but there’s little denying the importance of this particular film on cinema history.
7th Heaven (1927)
Shifting forward 25 years, one of the greatest years in silent film history would also be one of its last thanks to that year’s release of The Jazz Singer, which brought sound into film with the legendary line “you ain’t heard nothin’ yet.” However, the year’s three other prominent features were all silent and are better than anything that would come out of the sound medium for several years. The first of these on my list is Frank Borzage’s 7th Heaven.
Starring Charles Farrell as a sewer worker and Janet Gaynor as the suffering young prostitute he saves by pretending to be her husband, the film paints the back alley forgotten members of society with a lively and humbling brush as it seeks to bring attention to those who eke out a meager existence and find just a little happiness in the midst of turmoil and conflict. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards at the first ever ceremony, winning for Borzage as director, Benjamin Glazer as screenwriter, and Gaynor as Best Actress (more on this one later). It was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Art Direction, which it lost to Wings and William Cameron Menzies, nominated for two different films..
Metropolis (1927)
While the French pioneered film projection and the Americans popularized it further, German and other Eastern European filmmakers were hard at work redefining the medium and its artistic potential. Fritz Lang was among the most successful German expressionists working in film during the 1920s and this film could arguably be called his masterpiece. Based on a novel of the same name, Metropolis is a science fiction tale set in a futuristic urban dystopia where wealthy industrialists live in the upper part of the city while the cogs of the machine (workers) live beneath them. Alfred Abel plays the son of the city’s master who follows a young woman (Brigitte Helm) into the bowels of the city only to discover the conditions the workers are facing.
After seeing his father’s indifference to their plight, he becomes the prophesied mediator who is meant to bring parity between the rich and the poor. Yet, forces he’s unaware of seek to stop him from succeeding and maintain the imbalance as it exists. Filled with stunning production design and fascinating effects, Metropolis remains one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. It’s not difficult to see how this and the aforementioned A Trip to the Moon influenced all science fiction films that came in their wake.
Sunrise (1927)
Earlier, I referenced Janet Gaynor’s Oscar win for Best Actress and said there would be more on that discussion later. Here’s where we arrive at it. For the 1st Academy Awards, the winners for Best Actor and Best Actress were cited for multiple films, the first and only time such winners were crowned. Alongside 7th Heaven and Street Angel, Gaynor’s third feature was this F.W. Murnau masterpiece. It’s one of the greatest films ever made and demands to be seen by anyone who proclaims their love for film.
The story is simple, that of a man (George O’Brien) and his wife (Gaynor) from a small town who are almost torn apart by the ambitions of a woman from the city (Margaret Livingston). As the man attempts to reconcile with his wife with a trip to the city, her skepticism is not easily won over. German director Murnau brought German Expressionism to American cinema with this film and forever merged the high concept art piece with the popular exhibitionism that was in fashion at the time. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards and won three, Gaynor, the award for cinematography to Charles Rosher and Karl Struss, and Best Unique and Artistic Production, an award that was given out only once at the first Academy Awards. It was richly deserving of all three citations.
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Carl Theodore Dreyer was of a similar artistic bent as the German Expressionists and Russian filmmakers like Sergei Eisenstein in how he approached film as a medium. Invited to make a film in France, Dreyer chose the story of Joan of Arc as the centerpiece of his picture. The film starred Renée Jeanne Falconetti as the titular French hero who transcended gender and is rightly celebrated as one of the great generals in world history.
Titled The Passion of Joan of Arc, the film focused on the capture, torture, and death of Joan, burned at the stake by the British, assuring her martyrdom. She a symbol of perseverance and fortitude. While the photography of the film feels minimalist, it helps contextualize the emotional state of Joan as she faces her fate. Combined with Falconetti’s commanding performance, the film is absolutely riveting. It’s not difficult to see why this is considered one of the all-time great films and it was sadly one of the last great silent films ever made.
No original review available.
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