Greatest Movies of the Silent Film Era
The Silent Film Era ran from 1895 to 1929. As its name suggests, the period is marked by stories without no synchronized dialogue or sound. Silent films transmitted dialogue through muted gestures, title cards and mime. Silent films happened because of technical challenges, as technology was not advanced yet to combine motion pictures with recorded sound.
Given the lack of sound and dialogue, silent film actors had to rely on facial expression and body language to impart to the audience whatever they were feeling or portraying. To signal a mood or show a time of the day, silent films frequently used various shades and hues. For instance, blue was used to represent night scenes while yellow represented day. Red was for fire while green represented a mysterious environment. Most movie houses, however, hired pianists and organists to provide musical background and emphasize certain narratives on the screen. Some even hired live actors and narrators.
While often misconceived as being primitive, silent movies were quite special in their own right. We list down some of the best movies of the long forgotten silent film era.
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
Considered as the ultimate surrealist film, Un Chien Andalou is a masterpiece by Spanish director Luis Bunuel and artist Salvador Dali. The movie has no plot, with its chronology disjointed, jumping from one scene to another. One of the most unforgettable scenes of the silent film era happens in this movie, that of an eyeball being slit open.
Greed (1924)
Greed is based on the novel McTeague and follows the story of a dentist who wins a lottery but becomes too consumed for money. The original film was 9 hours long but was cut down to four hours. Cineastes consider the uncut version of the movie as a holy grail of movie archivists, with a lot of people claiming to have discovered the missing footage.
Metropolis (1927)
Considered as the forerunner of the modern sci-fi movie, this movie had all the ingredients of sci-fi staples like Star Wars and Blade Runner. The plot is set in a futuristic city and takes a look at the social problems between owners and workers in a capitalist society. It is also one of the last films that adopted German expressionism.
City Lights (1931)
Charlie Chaplin is considered as the most iconic actor of the silent film era, and this list would not be complete without a movie from Chaplin. In this movie, Chaplin is charmed by a blind salesgirl who believes he is a rich man. Wanting to keep her interest, Chaplin tries to raise enough money to support a costly operation to restore the girl’s eyesight. Many film historians believe the ending of the movie is one of the most memorable in film history.
The Passion of Joan Arc
The movie depicts the last few hours of the French heroine and saint Joan of Arc. It is one of the first movies to use close-ups and do away with make-up. The lead actress, Renée Jeanne Falconetti, is also considered to have the best depiction of Joan of Arc in movie history.
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