Man With A Movie List

Director: Mario Peixoto Year: 1931 Run-time: 2 hrs Source: Criterion Channel Streaming Notable For :  Peixoto is a one-time Brazilian director who created what may be the greatest cult silent film.  Formally as experimental as Vertov's work, Peixoto used a poetic, non-narrative structure to explore the frailty ("limits") of human experience.  With four recurring characters, but almost no dialogue, interpretation of the film is left open-ended, but unlike in Dovzhenko's work, the symbolism is almost always universal and easy to parse, and the emotions of the characters are at the forefront.  Verdict:  It's not an easy film, and at two hours it tests the viewer's patience, but I can certainly see why it remains very beloved, and have respect for the dedicated historians who heroically managed to keep it intact throughout the decades.  The pressures of pushing forward in the list don't often allow me to revisit films, but this is one I could see return...