Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari

Title: Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Year: 1919
Country: Germany
Director: Robert Wiene
Producer: Rudolf Meinert & Erich Pommer
Genre: Fantasy & Horror
Runtime: 72 minutes
Viewed: May 30, 2010

Review: This is the first film out of the six that has been told as a story. The film starts being told by one man to another, but then the Director takes the watchers on a tour via a flashback. It is from there the film is told, but you don't necessarily realize that you are being told the story until you reach the end and come the realization that it was being told as a story. There were a couple interesting factors about this movie that are different from the others, the first being that there is a supernatural feel to the movie. The character Cesare has the ability to not only know everything from the past but as well to see the future. The second detail that is different is that the viewers see at the end that the whole layout for the movie takes place in an insane asylum. Lastly, the set took a complete turn from the last film. In the last film we witnessed a very elaborate set where this set appeared to be painted for a good majority. It would appear that the effort that maybe should have been paid to set was given instead to the dialogue cards. The dialogue cards were very different in this movie, different style, detail, and overall the way they were written, which in all actuality made them difficult to read.

Rating:
2.75 Shamrocks
3.25 Soccer Balls

Movie 6 down... 995 to go!

Intolerance

Title: Intolerance
Year: 1916
Country: USA
Director: D.W. Griffith
Producer: D.W. Griffith
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 178 minutes
Viewed: May 29, 2010

Review: This is the second film by Griffith that Drake and I have viewed, the first being The Birth of a Nation. Apparently Griffith likes the longer films, because this film was also 3 hours long. There were quite a few differences between the two films though, this, in my personal opinion, was more entertaining. This is the first film out of the five thus far that has used an extravagant number of extras. It is stated in the review in the book, 1001 Movies, that there are 3,000 extras used. Also, the set itself is extremely detailed compared to what we have witnessed so far. Other mentionable details are that there appears to be nudity or at least semi-nudity in the film, it is difficult to tell in the scene whether or not the woman is completely naked. As well, there is a kiss which hasn't been scene yet in the past films. Lastly, something different about this movie is there are more detailed scenes of violence. In one scene the a man appears to get his head cut off, in the past movies we have scene gun shots but nothing as severe as this. Overall, the storyline for me was hard to follow because it is a silent film, but it was more interesting to watch because Griffith combined different story lines which helps capture the audiences attention more.

Rating:
2.5 Shamrocks (While I enjoyed this film more then the others, it still was 3 hours long and for me difficult to follow because of it being a silent film. I am not sure I am fully capable of following a silent film that is that long. I think if it wouldn't have been 3 hours I would have given it 3 Shamrocks, but since I will not watch it again, 2.5 makes more sense. Just an FYI, I did stop watching for about 20 minutes, but I don't think it made that big of a difference, I was just as confused before as I was after I missed that short period of time.)
3 Soccer Balls

Movie 5 down... 996 to go!

Les Vampires

Title: Les Vampires
Year: 1915
Country: France
Director: Louis Feuillade
Producer: N/A (not given)
Genre: Crime & Horror
Runtime: 399 minutes
Viewed: I don't remember when we started watching this, but as stated below it took about two months, finished watching the film: April 26, 2010

Review: Well, what is there to say about this film? If you need to fall asleep, then it would probably be a great film for you to watch. There were multiple times while watching this movie, that I became incredibly tired/bored just watching and in the last part of it, I actually did fall asleep. There are 10 parts to this film that in the end equals 400 minutes. It literally took me 2 months to make myself complete this mission. My partner in this adventure stopped watching after, I believe it was, the fifth part. I am not completely sure why this is in the book, and honestly I don't care why it is, I don't think it was necessary. The whole plot of the movie follows a gangster group that is referred to as Les Vampires. Trying to follow the characters was incredibly difficult. There were two characters I could recognize on a regular basis, and one of them was just because he is odd looking. I would never in my life watch this film again. It gets incredibly frustrating when you sit there and watch the characters do something for about five minutes and they are repeating the same action over again, I truly believe that the movie could have been just as long as a typical movie now, no more then 120 minutes. Also, the color scheme changes when they go outside or it becomes night time is ridiculous. I don't know what people were like in 1915, but I would assume they didn't need a green color scheme to appear when the characters went outside where there are clearly trees present. Never, ever again will I watch this movie. One word, exhausting.

Rating: 1/2 Shamrock

Movie 4 down... 997 to go!

The Birth of a Nation

Title: The Birth of a Nation
Year: 1915
Country: USA
Director: D.W. Griffith
Producer: D.W. Griffith
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 187 minutes
Viewed: February 25, 2010

Review: Let's begin with stating this movie was 3 hours long. Originally shown in 2 parts, half way through the audience would be given an intermission. After watching the film I understand why! It is understandable why the movie was such a big deal when it was released. The first reason being that it covers a very touchy subject and the second reason being it is much longer than the typical movie. The director uses different lighting throughout the film to help with the understanding of what is happening in the scene. The realization I've come to is it is extremely difficult to follow a film that only has music, I noticed I was unable to remember who was who during the film, which made it difficult to keep up with what was happening. Another big stride in the movie industry at this time was that Griffith had the first orchestral score. While it is easy to understand why this film is in the book, crucial to the future development of film, the movie in a few words is incredibly racist. It was interesting to see how the filmmaker depicted how things happened from his point of view and now to be able to look back at history and see what actually happened.

Rating:
1 Shamrock (I definitely could not watch this again, too long, difficult to follow, and I'm pretty sure watching it gave me a headache. None the less I do understand why it was on the list.)
2 Soccer Balls (Not saying it was a bad movie, I did enjoy parts of it, but the length of the movie makes me not want to watch it again and caused me to become bored with it. If you are interested in cinematic history, definitely watch it, but if you're not, it is not a fun movie it is more a movie to study. I never want to see the KKK riding into triumph while the song Ride of the Valkyries is playing in the background ever again.)

Movie 3 down... 998 to go!

The Great Train Robbery

Title: The Great Train Robbery
Year: 1903
Country: USA
Director: Edwin S. Porter
Producer: N/A (not given in book)
Genre: Action, Crime, Short, & Western
Runtime: 11 minutes
Viewed: February 24, 2010

Review: This movie was more entertaining to watch than the previous one and also had a better storyline. It was interesting to see an early difference between a French film (Le Voyage Dans La Lune) and this film, which was made in the U.S. The picture were clearer, it may also have to do with the country of production but this film was categorized as a Western, however I think now it could be considered a comedy, while the French film was Sci-fi. The final scene where the gunman points the gun directly at the screen is an interesting concept for a film, because it gives the film a, "you're next" feel.

Rating:
3 Shamrocks
2.5 Soccer Balls

Movie 2 down... 999 to go!

Le Voyage Dans La Lune

Title: Le Voyage Dans La Lune - A Trip to the Moon
Year: 1902
Country: France
Director: Georges Méliès
Producer: Georges Méliès
Genre: Sci-fi & Short
Runtime: 14 minutes
Viewed: February 23, 2010

Review: Although this movie was made in 1902, it would appear that a child came up with the screenplay. The story telling system seems to be they did this and then that and then this. The movie is only about 14 minutes long, however the first 4 minutes of the movie seems like it is lasting forever. I guess that is to be expected when the short film length in this time was typically 2 minutes. It is difficult to understand what is being said in the film, especially while the actors are clamoring around in the classroom. For obvious reasons, 1902, the cinematography was less than wonderful. The story in all does not make very much sense, but I guess for a short period of time it keeps you captivated and wondering, what will happen next?

Rating:
2 Shamrocks
2.5 Soccer Balls

Movie 1 down... 1000 to go!