1920s

  • Jean Epstein – Finis terrae AKA End of the Earth (1929)

    Jean Epstein1921-1930DramaFranceSilent

    Synopsis:
    The Ushant archipelago is a group of small islands situated off the coast of Brittany at the northwest extremity of France. Each year, four fishermen from the most populated island Ushant set up camp for three months on the uninhabited islet of Bannec to gather and process seaweed, producing a valuable soda-rich resource for factories along the coast. JeanMarie and Ambroise, the two youngest members of the four, fall out when the latter drops his friend’s last bottle of wine. Ambroise finds himself ostracised when Jean-Marie accuses him of stealing his pocket knife and then develops a fever when infection sets in on a hand wound. Read More »

  • Vladimir Gardin – Krest i mauzer aka Cross and Mauser (1925)

    1921-1930DramaSilentUSSRVladimir Gardin

    A powerful and utterly brutal Soviet propaganda broadside levelled at the Catholic church.
    Compelling in its prolific use of facial close-up shots.

    Cast note:
    Krest I Mauzer marks the first film appearance of; Nikolay Kutuzov, who would later appear in Tarkovskys Andrei Rublev (1966) and in the film Viy (1967) and Alexei Pirogov, who would go on to become a Bolshoi soloist (1931-48).Read More »

  • José Gaspar – Joselito o La vida y muerte de un matador AKA Joselito or The Life and Death of a Matador (1920)

    1911-1920DocumentaryJosé GasparSilentSpain

    Synopsis
    Documentary about the bullfighter ‘José Gómez’ alias ‘Joselito’, who died in the bull ring of Talavera de la Reina.
    (imdb)Read More »

  • Fridrikh Ermler – Oblomok imperii AKA Fragments of Empire (1929)

    1921-1930Fridrikh ErmlerPoliticsSilentUSSR

    Synopsis:
    Fridrikh Ermler’s last silent feature, Fragment of an Empire, tells the story of a Russian non-commissioned officer, Ivan Filimonov (Fyodor Nikitin), who was shell-shocked, thought to be dead in the First World War and in loss of memory. Filimonov regains his memory in 1928, ten years after the Russian Revolution. Determined to find his wife and get his job back, he goes home to Saint Petersburg only to find out that his wife has remarried and his former employer has been replaced by a factory committee. The Saint Petersburg that he used to know also does not exist anymore. Renamed Leningrad and deprived of its status as capital, the city with its monumental buildings and statues of Lenin is foreign to Filimonov as is everything else in this new world created by the 1917 Revolution. As time goes by, however, he learns to appreciate the new ways. Although he is not reunited with his wife, he regains full control of his life. At the end of the film, Filimonov breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly as he declares, in true Soviet propaganda fashion: “There is still much work to be done!”Read More »

  • Lev Kuleshov – Neobychainye priklyucheniya mistera Vesta v strane bolshevikov AKA The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924)

    1921-1930ComedyLev KuleshovSilentUSSR

    Quote:
    Mr. West was the first feature film that Kuleshov made with a team of actors who had attended his Experimental Cine-Laboratory. For four years, this group had been doing preparatory work as they planned to reform the art of cinema with an eye on montage. Yet, for a long time, their ideas remained dry theory, because the workshop lacked resources to make films. The focus of the Cine-Lab’s practice was on acting études. Details of scenes were story-boarded, photographed, or “framed” by special viewfinders in order to visualize how they might look in an edited film sequence. Thanks to these exercises, the notion of montage that Kuleshov developed was inextricably linked to his ideas on acting and shot composition. Read More »

  • John Ford – Kentucky Pride (1925)

    John Ford1921-1930ComedyUSA

    Kentucky Pride is a 1925 American silent drama film from Fox Film about the life of a horse breeder and racer, directed by John Ford and starring Henry B. Walthall (who had previously played the Little Colonel in D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation). It is among Ford’s lesser-known works, but has been praised for sweetness and charm and its beautiful depiction of the life of horses and the relationship between the protagonist and his daughter. Several well-known thoroughbred racehorses appear in the film, including the legendary Man o’ War.Read More »

  • Henri Fescourt – Les misérables [Complete Version] (1925)

    1921-1930DramaFranceHenri FescourtSilent

    Plot:
    Jean Valjean is a forced man who after nineteen years is released. At that time he will have to fight against society’s contempt and his fate will go through various phases, from opulence to the relentless pursuit of justice, always with the shadow of his fierce enemy, the policeman Javert, who will persecute him for more than thirty years.Read More »

  • Marcel L’Herbier – Prométhée… banquier AKA Prometheus… Banker (1921)

    Marcel L'Herbier1921-1930FranceShort FilmSilent

    Prométhée… banquier (1921)

    Synopsis:
    Mr. Prévoyan, a wealthy banker, is a man who is lucky. If everything he touches turns to gold, the medal on his reverse. Indeed, riveted to his desk by his business, he did not notice that an idyll had formed between the beautiful Gaby, object of his affection, and his own secretary, Toudieu.Read More »

  • Man Ray – L’étoile de mer AKA The Starfish (1928)

    Man Ray1921-1930ExperimentalFranceShort Film

    L’étoile de mer (1928)

    Two people stand on a road, out of focus. Seen distorted through a glass, they retire upstairs to a bedroom where she undresses. He says, “Adieu.” Images: the beautiful girl, a starfish in a jar, city scenes, newspapers, tugboats. More images: starfish, the girl. “How beautiful she is.” Repeatedly. He advances up the stair, knife in hand, starfish on the step. Three people stand on a road, out of focus. “How beautiful she was.” “How beautiful she is.” “Beautiful.”Read More »

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