Man With A Movie List

Director: Henri d'Ursel Year: 1929 Run-time: 33 min Source: Youtube Notable For: This Belgian short film from a one-time director is little-remembered, without even a Wikipedia page, but along with the last two films on the list, it demonstrates how surrealism was at its apex in cinema across the world.  There is a relatively coherent plot, unlike in Un Chien Andalou , but it skirts with the supernatural as well, and the symbolism is obscure and interesting.  The influences range from Murnau back to the serial films of Feuillade, but it's all warped by the avant-garde tastes of the time. Verdict : At just 33 minutes, it's hard not to recommend this to anyone who's curious.  There are themes of infidelity and eroticism here, but I have no idea what's going on at the end, and I'm curious what the theories are.  Certainly, I've never seen a work where pearls play such a heavy symbolic role.

Director: Alexander Dovzhenko Year: 1929 Run-time: 1 hr 32 min Source: Bootleg DVD, although the quality wasn't much better than Youtube Wikipedia One Man's Extremely In-depth Analysis of Dovzhenko's War Trilogy Notable for : Dovzhenko's second film in his "War Trilogy" focuses more specifically on World War I, and how Ukraine joined the Soviet state.  On a shot-by-shot basis, Dovzhenko's style matured since Zvenigora , and there are very few directors of the era who can match his cinematography.  Although the film doesn't mix genres in the same way as Zvenigora , it is still very much an avant-garde work. Verdict :  To be overly simplistic for a moment, Dovzhenko is David Lynch, except Ukrainian and several decades early.  Both of these films are difficult to decipher in the best of conditions, but without proper care and translation, I can't recommend that you seek out these films.  Which is a shame, because even devoid of proper conte...

Director: Luis Buñuel Year: 1929 Runtime: 21 min Source: Youtube Notable For : Being the most famous Surrealist film, as well as the first film by the great Luis Buñuel, which he co-wrote with Salvador Dali.  It's also one of the most referenced silent works, with clear parallels to the modern dream sequence as well as the entire oeuvre of David Lynch.  It's one of the most timeless films of the era. Verdict :  Like any actual dream, it evades all critics, and though there's plenty of Freudian psychoanalysis to be done on the myriad of insane images, I doubt that would be ultimately fruitful.  That's not to say that I didn't heartily enjoy Un Chien Andalou - indeed I'll be thinking about it for a while - but given how prevalent its ideas are now, I'm not sure I would call it essential cinema like some of Buñuel's later works. Best Paired With :  I suppose the obvious choice would be Pixies ' Debaser, but who needs an excuse to listen to Doo...

Director: G.W. Pabst Year: 1929 Runtime: 2 hr 13 min Source: Kanopy Wikipedia Roger Ebert's Review Notable for: Pabst, the master of psycho-sexual drama, directing the iconic Louise Brooks as the ultimate free and easy seductress who will lead any man to his ruin. Verdict: Brooks really is outstanding, although the plot doesn't hold up to modern scrutiny.  I was also very impressed with the rest of the cast as well - few films up to this point in the list have been successful at really developing more than a couple characters.  It has the first true lesbian that I've seen on screen, and she's not a caricature. I wouldn't exactly call the film sympathetic toward its lead character, but it is at least more ambiguous than you would expect from a cursory synopsis.  Pabst makes it plain that it's the men around Brooks' character that can't behave themselves.  Although Brooks is remorseless throughout the film, in some sense she has to be, since...

Director: Dziga Vertov Year: 1929 Runtime: 1 hr 7 min Source: Amazon Video Wikipedia Kyle Kallgren's Video Analysis Notable for : Being one of the most critically acclaimed silent films (although not at the time of release).  It was voted the 8th best film of all time by Sight and Sound in 2012, and the best documentary of all time a few years later. Critics respond to many things about the film, including but not limited to: Putting the act of film-making front and center, including the editing process (here undertaken by Vertov's wife).  Previously the task of editing was considered secondary to artistic vision. The invention or innovation (there is some debate here) of many editing techniques, including split screen, stop or slow motion, and double exposure. Vertov wanted his audience to know that this was not magic but a mechanical science. Vertov's radical belief in the power of cinema to create a communal, universal perspective on the world, independen...

Director: Victor Sjöström Year: 1928 Run-time: 1 hr 18 min Source: Vimeo video (with modern soundtrack) Wikipedia Plot Summary and Review Notable for: Lillian Gish's first real appearance on the list, although she has a cameo in Intolerance .  Gish is often considered the greatest actress of the silent era.  It's also (I believe) the only one of Sjöström's films on the list, which considering the quality here is probably a shame. Verdict: Stunning and intoxicating.  There are many wonderful things to say about The Wind , but I'll point out two that struck me: - The rapid fall of Gish's character's prospects.  The Wind is not a "realist" film for many reasons, but there's something really moving about watching Gish marry a man she doesn't like, simply because she has nowhere else to go, no money to return back to the East Coast (and presumably nothing to do there), and the only other suitor is even worse.  It's so incredibly ra...