Way Down East

Title: Way Down East
Year: 1920
Country: USA
Director: D.W. Griffith
Producer: D.W. Griffith
Genre: Drama & Romance
Runtime: 147 minutes
Viewed: June 9, 2010

Review: Let us start with this was the first film that we have watched, of semi-normal movie length, that I would watch again. It was actually entertaining. It would appear that Griffith realized his ability to story tell in a way that keeps the viewer's attention. I cannot quite put my finger on it exactly what changed but one of the little details that seems to make a huge difference is that he stopped putting emphasis on such monotonous pieces of the movie. Before the movie even began I told Drake that Griffith likes to depict women as helpless in his movies so far, but Griffith swiftly called my bluff by having dialogue cards at the beginning that summed up said that men should take responsibility for their actions. This was the first film that had scenes from the movie missing, which if I would have known was a possibility I would have prayed that parts of the previous movies would have been missing instead of this one. Instead of it having the typical scenes there were just dialogue cards that stated what was supposed to be there, and in a couple scenes there were photographs of what was depicted in the movie instead of reel. This movie also appeared to have more comedic entertainment throughout it, even though the movie was more of a romantic drama. If you are at all interested in watching a silent film, although this one is long, I would definitely recommend it! Lastly, a triple wedding is gross, it doesn't matter what year it is when a mother in-law and daughter in-law kiss multiple times, with one especially slow kiss, it is weird, and no matter what year you are in when two men accidentally kiss it is funny.

Rating:
3 Shamrocks (if it gets 3 or more shamrocks, this means I would watch the movie again)
3.75 Soccer Balls

Movie 8 down... 993 to go!