Murder My Sweet

Ménilmontant (1926) - Kirsanoff








With long cross-fades, handheld shots, jumpcuts and expressive close-ups and time jumps, Dimitri Kirsanoff's silent film Ménilmontant is a beauty. It tells the two country sister's journey (after their mum and dada get murdered by crazy axe wielding man) to the Paris neighborhood of the title. It's a typical melodrama of moral corruption and jealousy and redemption and stuff, but the presentation is nothing but. Nadia Sibirskaïa (Kirsanoff's wife) who plays the younger sister is a sight to behold. She is a cross btwn Anna Karina and Marion Cortillard. Her expressions in close-ups are as expressive as that of Maria Falconetti's in Joan of Arc.

Ménilmontant starts and ends with jarringly, frenetically shot and edited murder scenes. It's probably the most violent silent film I've seen but also the most lyrical. Beautiful stuff.

Oppression and Resistance in Silence

Libera me (1993) - Cavalier








How do you convey oppression and resistance without ever uttering words? Alain Cavalier does it beautifully here. Libera me is even more austere than his Therese or any of Bresson films. Grey background doubles as any discernible locations. Non-actors act out in succession of beautifully lit tableaux. No moment is wasted, no thoughts, feelings and gesture go unnoticed. There are two families - a butcher and his three sons and a photographer and his wife who take passport photos which seem to be invaluable commodity in the fascist world, that the film takes place in, where mass killing and torture seem ordinary. They fight against the powers that be. This non-silent-silent film is a wonder to behold. Cavalier seems to be operating on another cinematic level that is guileless and stripped down to its pure elements. I am in awe.

Libera me plays as part of Art of the Real series at FSLC. Please visit their website for tickets.

Silent Lovers

Cœur Fidele (1923) - Epstein




Great use of camera movement, close-ups, rapid cuts and focus for psychological impact and poetic visuals. But it's all about Gina Manès's unusual beauty that shines through. Will investigate the world of Jean Epstein more.

Unsentimental Mood

The Docks of New York (1928) - Sternberg


Bill (George Bancroft) is a brutish stocker, shoveling coal in the boiler room of the ship. He gets one night off ashore before he ships back out. He happens to witness a blond girl (Betty Compson) plunging into the water in a suicide attempt. He rescues her and carries her to a local bar (naturally) to bring her back to life. Since she doesn't have anything to wear, he breaks in, steals some lady clothes from a nearby store. With encouragements from others, on a whim, he asks the girl to marry him. Everyone including the wedding party knows that they have no intention of keeping their bows.

The Docks showed me that not all silents are slapstick comedies, camera tricks or overacting. It's unsentimental, pessimistic and its emotions complex and subtle. Our hero and heroine are not button-cute but downtrodden and world weary. No one asks the girl why she tried to kill herself. We never get to find out. But Compson's sad smile is more telling than anything. The ending is sort of a copout but Sternberg doesn't go all the way to make it corny. Beautiful cinematography too. It's great.