The impersonal city life

City Lights (1931)
Written, Produced, Directed, Acted: Charlie Chaplin

Hailed as one of the best movies of all time, this silent film was released when sound system was already coming to the mainstream. Chaplin also wrote the musical score. The famous musical tune in it, 'La Violetera', was contested for copyright infringement and was won by its Spanish composer Jose' Padilla.

Keeping with Chaplin's political views, this story paints a very impersonal picture of modern capitalist living. It is comical to see (besides Chaplin's antics) how the general public is seen in such a hurry to be heading to nowhere. They party in such a meaningless way without actually enjoying themselves. It seems as if the revelry is forced upon them. Almost robotic, they carry on their life after all the merrymaking without any attachments.

Town folks only seek for you when they are in dire straits or in need of a shoulder to cry on. Otherwise it just everybody with their ways.

In his own slapstick ways, Chaplin resumes his Tramp persona to bring forth the above messages. He rescues a suicidal and drunk rich man who repeatedly does not have a recollection of him when he is sober. Charlie's love interest is a blind flower girl. He helps her with eviction and for eyesight restoration surgery. Like a Franciscan priest, he bears suffering for the wellbeing of others.

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The best documentary ever?

Man with a Movie Camera ( Человек с киноаппаратом, Silent; 1929)
Director: Dziga Vertov

In a BBC poll recently, this documentary from the silent film era got the nod as the best documentary film ever made. It is surprising that even with the modern investigative journalistic techniques and presentations, this Russian entry won hands down. And the best part is that there is no story, no plot, no actors and no inter-titling (the message that comes in between scenes to convey the unspoken words).

What the director is showing are his newly thought movie making techniques which were considered avant-garde at his time. The use of slow motion, panning, super-imposing, zooming and others are highlighted. He also tries to promote his 'state of the art' mobile camera on a tripod. His wife did an excellent job on editing.

The subjects were ordinary subjects from three Russian towns doing their daily chores like dancing, sleeping, cleaning, washing, commuting from the trams and even engaged in childbirth!
The director goes on exploring new daredevil and innovative cinematographic techniques like filming an on-coming train, filming from the undercarriage of a tram and burying a running camera in the sand as the train went over it.


Sometimes, he becomes cheeky and tries to equate our daily constitutional duties to our daily chores, e.g. washing the face is compared to scrubbing clothes! The director belonged to a group of filmmakers who were disillusioned with movies with fictional stories whom he feels is 'the opium for the masses'. As expected from the message above, he and his team became part of the team who became the mouthpiece of the Soviet regime to spread their ideology.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Another classic!

Safety Last (1923)
Malaysians who came of age in the 70s and 80s would have viewed Harold Lloyd's 'World of Comedy' over the terrestrial TV for umpteen times.
It is a 1923 silent full-length comedy with plenty of stunts which would give plenty of butterflies in the belly of those with a weak spot for heights. Despite losing a thumb and a forefinger in a previous stunt, Lloyd still managed to perform many of the stunts here.
The highlight of his comedy is the trick the camera plays on the viewers with the clever use of props. Like in the opening scene, the bars, priest, the noose and the emotional relatives makes it appear like a scene where Harold going to be hung when it is actually a scene at a ticketing counter at a railway station!
Harold leaves to work in town to save some marry his sweetheart.
Even though he is working as a lowly sales assistant in a textile store, he paints a rosy picture to his girlfriend by sending her pricey gifts.
The girlfriend, Mildred, decides to pay him a surprise visit, creating a comedy of errors in his work-place as he tries to con her that he is the General Manager!
After overhearing his bosses' offer of $1000 to anyone who could draw more customers to the store, Harold takes the challenge thinking that his pal who has the neck of scaling buildings would perform a death-defying stunts. On the said day of the stunt, his pal is chased by a cop and Harold Lloyd has to scale the building all by himself with hilarious and nail-biting moments.
As predicted, Harold succeeds and wins the heart of his girl!

A course in symbology & cryptic messages

Metropolis (Silent, 1927)

Director: Fritz Lang

This silent film is a treasure that was lost in the annals of time, and the reel of films was recovered piecemeal in Argentina. It was written by a husband and wife team of Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang, who later separated due to a difference in political ideologies.  In essence, it portrays a futuristic time (2026) when a city built by Joh Frederson is divided into two social classes. The ruling party enjoys a cushy life on land whilst the oppressed robotic-like workers live deep underground, literally working themselves to death to keep the evil machines in working order so that life as they knew in Metropolis, the city, can function.

The film references many biblical events, although many of these religious innuendos can be construed as a pure figment of our own interpretation of the story. The copy I watched had some exciting director's comments explaining cryptic messages hidden in the story.

Metropolis 2026

It has the reputation of being the most expensive silent movie ever produced and ear-marked Lang as an influential film-maker making Nazi's Propaganda Minister, Josef Goebbels, approach Lang to fulfil the Nazi party's agenda, which he politely declined and absconded to Paris before the day was through.

Queen used scenes from this film in the music video for their 1984 hit song, 'Radio Ga Ga'.
The film starts with the classic scene of workers changing shifts, dragging their feet in a zombie-like fashion as they enter and leave a lift deep into the city's depths.

Virgin Maria

Up above on land, the privileged sons of the ruling class (industrialists) have a carefree life in the 'Club of Sons', enjoying sports and social activities. All girls go agape, trying to be Mr Joh Frederson's only heir, Freder's consort. (Joh is supposed to denote  Jehovah)

Freder's philandering days end abruptly when he lays his eyes on Maria when she brings the children of the workers' clean up on the surface just momentarily to show them how rich people live. (Maria, a virgin with children?)

Freder runs after Maria as she disappears behind the door. He misses her but instead witnesses an explosion in the machine room. He is aghast at the workers' living conditions and the accident.

He rushes to his father's office, Tower of Babel, the highest building in the city to convey the news.
The father, a true 'time is money' industrialist, does not take the news well. Just then, the engineer, Grot, walks in some sketched plan found in the injured workers' clothes. Angered, Mr Frederson sacks his personal secretary, Josaphat. Depressed that dismissal would mean moving into the depths to join the workforce, Josaphat attempts suicide just to be stopped by Freder in the nick of time. He is hired by Freder instead.

Meanwhile, Freder trades places (uniform) with a struggling worker, #11811. The worker later absconds with the money found in his pocket to be wasted in the red-light district Yoshiwara.

Hel

We are then shown a strange house in the middle of Metropolis occupied by an inventor, Rotwang, who lost a hand during a mishap. He now wears a steel prosthesis (a hybrid of man and machine).

All three men have something in common - Frederson's deceased wife was Rotwang's former girlfriend and was Fredo's mother. The lady in common is Hel (Nordic Motherly Goddess of Death).

Frederson pays Rotwang a visit, who is still sore for losing his girl even though Hel is long dead and gone. The slightly mad Rotwang had a statue of Hel and invented a 'Machine Man' in her mould. Interestingly, we see perched above the machine is a pentagram with a downward pointed star denoting the Satanic practises.

Rotwang reads the sketched plan as referring to a catacomb (an ancient underground cemetery). Frederson and Rotwang follow flights of stairs to the catacomb to witness Maria, the priestess, giving a sermon on love and patience and to wait for the mediator to arrive to allay the workers' worries. Amongst the crowd is also a love-smitten Fredo.

The story of the biblical Tower of Babel is told, emphasising how (just like in Metropolis) there is a discord between the brains of the construction and the brawn, resulting in revolt.
Rotwang devises an evil plan to make the Machine Man, in the image of Maria, mislead the workers to fight the establishment, simultaneously destroying his arch-enemy, who stole his girl. He chases and apprehends Maria. This sequence is supposedly legendary with brilliant use of series of light and shadows to evoke fearful emotions in Maria. (The comments say that it is symbolic of a hybrid of man and machine (steel-handed Rotwang) and evil (torchlight will illuminate light- Lucifer bearer of light)??)

On a 7-headed 10-horned beast

The false Maria starts her nefarious act. Seeing her intimate with his father, Freder falls ill (Oedipus complex, as the machine man, is shaped after Hel!). By the time Freder is convalescing, Metropolis is in tatters. The workers have stopped working, the city is flooding, the rich kids patronising Yoshiwara are up in arms against each other over False Maria, and the workers have abandoned their kids while they just follow False Maria aimlessly, creating anarchy. (Here, she is compared to the Whore of Baghdad as described in the Bible).

To summarise, Fredo, Josaphat, and the Real Maria rescue the children. Fredo and Rotwang engage in a duel in a cathedral with gargoyles, which ends when Rotwang falls to his death.
Workers realise that they have been misled. Sanity is restored. Fredo becomes the Mediator they have been waiting for, acting as the go-between between his father and Grot, representing the working class. END.

Memorable quotes

• People spoke the same language but could not understand each other.
• Great is the world and its creator, and great is man.
• The mediator between head and hands must be the heart.

The Heart of France

The passion of Joan of Arc (1928, French silent)
La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc
This 1985 restored French silent movie is the result of restoration of lost rolls and miraculous re-appearances. This 1928 film which courted controversy even before its release has a surprisingly elaborate set-up and effects. Most of the expressions rely on facial expressions as there no musical score in the background. The story is a short one depicting the last hours of the heart of France, Joan of Arc.
Even though we studied about Joan of Arc in our Standard 5 history lessons, I was shocked that the present 17year olds in the national schools are clueless about this lady who has bestowed a saints status!
The film starts with the interrogation of Joan by the Jesuit priests and judges. She was asked about her allegation that she was God sent. She was then asked about her dream when St Michael appeared. They also enquired about her dressing, like that of a man?

Renée Jeanne Falconetti as Joan of Arc

Her reply to them was that she was sent by God with the mission to save France from England.
The priests than concocted a letter apparently written by King Charles of England to her about their attack. The priests accuse her of being Satan's creature and sent her to the torture chamber demanding for her to sign a declaration she has been misled and is wrong. The sight of the priests sanctioned torture tools were too overwhelming that she faints.
 She is nursed back to health and she asked to the same in full view of the public.
A big argument ensues trying to claim is a better Christian than the other. After much persuasion and cajoling, Joan endorses the document. She is shaved bald and sent to jail for rehabilitation. In the jail, however, she retracts her statement. She felt guilty denying her God for fear of the stake (punishment by burning). She is sent to be burnt alive in the centre of town.
During the stake, Joan kept chanting the name of Jesus. the public then realised that they have burnt a saint. A riot erupts. Fin..

*It is interesting that in the evolution of mankind, we have gone through a lot of nonsensical teachings from our religious leaders. We, the unenlightened and the not-so-wise (in the theological sense) have taken it in wholesale without questioning them as if they were directly communicated to them by by the Gods via special ports. Did you know that at one time it was sacrilege to use pain killers? "If one cannot appreciate a little bit of pain, how can one appreciate the pain of Jesus dying on the cross to wash the sins of all man?" they said!

In honour of pioneers of the silver screen...

With all the technological advances in sounds systems and colour, some people may think that I must be nuts still watching silent movies after all these years. But hey, they are still producing them, you see. The Artist from which the Best Actor for the 2011 Oscars came from - The first recipient of Awards since 1927!
It is a completely speechless movie (barring the two minutes of a dream scene when people started talking and the closing lines). The movie narrates the story set from 1927 to 1932 of a silent movie star, George Valentin, a swashbuckling toothy grinned hero who has has problem adjusting to the introduction of talkies.
The movie starts with the premiere of his movie 'Russian Affair ' which receives a roaring approval from the masses. During a photo shootout with fans, George meets Peppy Miller who makes it as a chorus girl extra in Valentin's new movie. Slowly Peppy moves up the ladder of stardom.
Come 1929, the studio decides to go talkies with the introduction of sounds in movies. All at once, old faces are axed to give way for newbies including Peppy Miller. As all actors of that era who thought that sounds are going to kill the acting ability of the actors, Valentin decided that he was not going to take it lying down. He acted, produced and directed in on own silent movie which was released at the same day as Peppy's talkies. Unfortunately his release coincided with the stock market crash and the reception to his film was appalling. He became a bankrupt while Peppy's career flourished. His wife had left him too.
Poor, drunk and depressed made him burn his old film collection and he is trapped in his own flat only to be rescued by his faithful companion Uggie (a Jack Russel terrier). (Watch Uggie's antics here!) Incidentally, Uggie needs a special mention for his extraordinary talent. If not for being of the human species, he would have vied for the Oscars! In 1928, a dog acting as Tin Tin got more votes then the actual winner - after that most award boards disqualified animals from nomination!
George is nursed back to health in Peppy's mansion where he stumbles upon all his old collection of items which were auctioned by him nicely stashed away. Feeling disillusioned, he attempts suicide, while Uggie compassionately coaxing him not to do so by ticking on his pants. This scene quite poignant and heart wrenching. Just in nick of time, Peppy makes it to the scene literally in a bang by crashing at the compound stopping our hero from his silly action.
Peppy suggests that they should use his dance talent to make it back to the movies which proved to quite true.
I can swear that the hero (Jean Dujardin) is trying very hard to be much like Sean Connery via his mannerisms, actions, moustache, smile and barrette! He is quite a likeable guy. The movie is quite straight forward in its storyline - nothing extraordinarily. Perhaps there is a lot of hype for this movie to sort of to commemorate and honour the contributions of the forefathers of the celluloid industry.

Not the "Pleasure Garden" as they look for!

This is the earliest of the collection of the silent movies that is currently in my possession. When I told one of my friends that I was going to watch a 1925 (released in 1927) silent movie called 'Pleasure Garden', he asked whether it was an adult themed porn flick!
Of course not, it is Alfred Hitchcock's directorial debut. Pleasure Garden is the name of the hall where Jill and Patsy were dancing girls.
Jill's fiancé, Hugh, who is working in an estate overseas visits her with his friend, Levet. After a brief vacation, Hugh returns to work. Jill's fame skyrockets afterwards and is wooed by a rich prince. Patsy's advice to Jill on being level headed and faithful to Hugh falls to deaf ears and their relationship sours.
Patsy is smitten with Levet and decide to tie the knot. Towards the end of her honeymoon, Patsy realizes Levet's true colour. Levet returns overseas to continue his work.

Virginia Valli as Patsy 

In one of the rather infrequent letters sent to Patsy, Levet mentioned of him suffering from a nasty tropical fever. Thinking of the worst, Patsy rushes to care for her husband only to discover of his alcoholic lifestyle and sinful liaison with a native woman. Patsy is abused. She is rescued only to discover that Hugh is stricken with 'love-sickness' after discovering that the love of his life, Jill, is to marry someone else. Patsy nurses Hugh back to health and they become a couple only to return home and live happily ever after.
One interesting scene that captured my imagination in this otherwise not so fantastic movie happened in the earlier part of the show. Jill's dog, Cuddles, started licking Patsy's sole when she was kneeling at her bed praying. Irritated, she kicked the dog away to the dog's howling whilst she continued her divine obligation! It is said that these are the subtle brickbats that Hitchcock hurls at his strict Catholic upbringing in his childhood.

Pact of loyalty at a price

Downhill (1927)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
People may frown and sneer at me watching silent movies. After all the advancement in acting and sound systems, it can be mind boggling to have one sitting through a full length silent movie as if you are living in a world filled with the hearing impaired or speech challenged people! What is important to me in a film is not the glitz of props and razzmatazz of ornaments draped around the actors but rather, I am a sucker for good stories. Of course, a silent movie is not silent. There is an ascending and descending crescendo of musical score. Only the actors are acting, not speaking to be heard.

I recently watched one of the oldest silent movies that I have watched - Downhill, a 1927 Alfred Hitchcock directed British film.
There is more to silent movies than Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin's antics. As speech expression is a handicap, the players compensate with sometimes, exaggerated, facial expressions and hand gestures. It is interesting to see the fashion sense of the swinging twenties. Actresses have started expressing their independence and escaped domestication by leaving behind the long mane and were seen all spotting well oiled short boy-haircuts. Hats were the favourite fashion of the day but I cannot help but compare their bucket hats with drooping brims to the Penang City Council night-soil workers of 60s, but that is just me!
The fixation to pearly whites had not set in as their teeth (of the actors) appeared stained like a betel leave and nut or paan chewing addict!

The story... may appear melodramatic, ala-Indian movie like!
Bretwick, an all rounder school captain is accused of inappropriate behaviour with a school canteen servant. Being a true friend, he takes the blame knowing well his best friend is the culprit and that the friend may lose his scholarship if convicted. Bretwick is then expelled. Coming from a high heeled family, he leaves his affluent life after a tiff with his father for not believing his sincerity.
Working as an assistant with a drama company, he befriends a famous actress with expensive taste. Inheriting a £30,000 windfall from a dead Godmother makes it easier to win her heart who obviously is interested in his bank balance. They marry and as soon as his money runs out, her liaison with her old boyfriend is rekindled. He is chased out penniless.
Starting anew in France as a fifty-francs-per-dance dancer to entertain old bored housewives, he realises the obvious fakeness of mankind. Well, in the 50s in Malaya, this type of job would be called (for the female) 'perempuan ronggeng' or gigolo in modern times. He is in the lowest ebb of life, depressed and homesick.

From Marseilles, 'rats from the docks' type of kind souls, actually, ship him back to England.
He becomes delusional and his entire life appears in front of him. When all avenues were deemed close, in blind instinct, the prodigal son comes back home to the open arms of the parents. Truth is known, everything is forgotten, forgiven and life is reinstated in its previous glory.
Outdoor shooting was still at an infantile stage here, maybe neonatal, as evidenced by jerky penning and limited brisk exposure of shots. It is interesting though to glimpse at the real streets of London. It is the street, not studio as I do not think they had mammoth studios with make believe towns yet! They did not know the importance of spring cleaning and gotong royong, the lanes were strewn with garbage. I think only when Dr Ronald Ross impressed upon   people the relationship of clean air and malaria, was proper street cleansing understood. [Malaria, mal=bad, air=air]
 Overall, it was an entertaining flick. Just that the Western story lines have changed over the years, Indian movies have got suspended in time still churning out one melodramatic feat after another.