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The Wind

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 rare to watch any character so at the mercy of fate, and not in a romantic way.

- The apocalyptic setting.  There's a lot of interesting psychology wrapped up in that titular wind, but watching this film in our current times, I can't help but see Gish's inner turmoil as being reflected by a world that's tearing itself apart.  It's really mesmerizing stuff.

Dream Double Feature Pairing: The Turin Horse
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