# Silent Films?



## nevermore (Oct 1, 2010)

I've come to believe this is a lost art form that is all but unknown and unappreciated in popular culture. Most people know about Charlie Chaplain and science fiction fans usually know about Metropolis but other than that it seems to have vanished from cultural memory. I admit I haven't seen many myself, but after seeing some of the stylish directions and top-notch artistry in many of the later ones I am intrigued. It's a different form of storytelling with a different vocabulary but I can't help but feel there are a lot of underrated gems from the era that really deserve to be seen. Not to mention their influence. I mean, these were the birth of one of the great human art forms!

Anyone have any reccomendations?:happy:


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## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)

Nosferatu, Un chien Andalou, and the Battleship Potemkin are classics to watch. 

Un Chien Andalou is a short surrealist film produced by Salvador Dali. It's strange and uses elements from Freudian dream analysis. 

Nosferatu is a German horror film in the style of Expressionism. Nosferatu inspired Alfred Hitchcock to develop the shower scene in Psycho. 

The Battleship Potemkin, directed by Sergei Eisenstein, explores the 1905 mutiny of Tsarist regime officers by its crew members.


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## nevermore (Oct 1, 2010)

Kilgore Trout said:


> Nosferatu, Un chien Andalou, and the Battleship Potemkin are classics to watch.
> 
> Un Chien Andalou is a short surrealist film produced by Salvador Dali. It's strange and uses elements from Freudian dream analysis.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the response.:happy:


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## Siggy (May 25, 2009)

@Kilgore Trout, and @nevermore. Excellent recommendations. I've seen both, and they are very powerful. Also DW Griffiths "Birth of a Nation" , however it is contains some disturbing scenes ,viewer discretion is advised.


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## Dreamer (Feb 5, 2010)

_I saw a silent film. It had music, but no talking. It's called 'The Eagle' and I think it was made in 1925._


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## Stephen (Jan 17, 2011)

The silent films I've seen were all quite early. Among them are Chaplin's excellent _The Gold Rush_ from 1925, and the important _The Great Train Robbery_ from 1903. I have _Nosferatu_ on my queue already, but it's been at a standstill since I already have had a disc in my house for weeks.


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## noche (Apr 9, 2011)

I suggest you to watch "3-iron" and "be with me". Both comes from 20's. Powerful movie, shocking, intense, and very deep.

3-iron is a Korean Movie and Be with me is a Singapore Movie
You can read the reviews in IMDB


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## Proteus (Mar 5, 2010)

Metropolis is a favorite of mine. After over 80 years it still holds up as a classic piece of scifi.


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## Gray Skies (Dec 27, 2010)

Late last year I had an opportunity to watch _Nosferatu_ in an old church with a live organist playing improv in the background; definitely a neat experience. I remember that there's one part where the black/white becomes inverted, which I believe was the first time that effect was ever used in film.


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## Ubbo (Apr 22, 2011)

La passion de Jeanne d'Arc by Carl Th. Dreyer is one of my favourite silent movies and one of the most visually beautiful movies that I know.

I would also recommend anything by Fritz Lang, F. W. Murnau and the whole german expressionism in general.


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## Lemmy Caution (Jun 12, 2010)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler
Der müde Tod
Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages 
Vampyr
The Man with a Camera
The Phantom Carriage

I have to second Nosferatu, Battleship Potemkin and The Passion of Joan of Arc.

Also, if you like Chaplin you should look into Buster Keaton.


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## Coburn (Sep 3, 2010)

The Last Laugh, Der Mud Todd (Fritz Lang!), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Just a bit of advice, but stay far, far, far away from Birth of A Nation. I've seen it cover to cover and it is not worth it unless you suffer a die hard fascination for the evolution of film editing.


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## progBOT (May 4, 2011)

Like @Lemmy Caution posted, Man With a Movie Camera is an all time classic and definitely worth seeing at least once.


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## Donkey D Kong (Feb 14, 2011)

Being honest, I'm not a fan of silent films. I've watched a few recently and I simply can't pay attention to them at all.


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## Sedna90377 (Nov 14, 2010)

I can only think of two or three times I actually jumped/recoiled while watching a movie. One of them was during a silent film.










I was _not_ expecting that.


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## Simonetta (Sep 1, 2011)

I LOVE silent films! If you'd still like a few more recommendations, here's some I really like:

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The Penalty (1920)
The Son of the Sheik (1926) (Ignore its predecessor; while not godawful, the acting is hammy and the story isn't nearly as steamy as it is in this one)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
Way Down East (1920) (A bit old-fashioned and a tad overlong, but still good nonetheless)
Faust (1926)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
The General (1927)
Sunrise (1927)
The Unholy Three (1925)


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## Disfigurine (Jan 1, 2011)

Everyone pretty much already posted the films I'd recommend!

Love silent films so bad <3


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## Simonetta (Sep 1, 2011)

Sedna90377 said:


> I can only think of two or three times I actually jumped/recoiled while watching a movie. One of them was during a silent film.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I know, right? IMO, that's the best interpretation of the Phantom character I've ever seen. It certainly kicks the crap out of the muscular pretty boy variation in the 2004 film.


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## indieandsoul (May 11, 2011)

To be honest, I'm not too big on silent films, though there are a few that I have enjoyed like 'City lights' and 'Wings' and 'Sunrise'. But there is a movie collection that I adore called 'Unseen cinema' that is filled with many short experimental/avant-garde silent movies. A couple of my favorites out of the collection are 'Suspense' (1913), 'Even as you and I' (1937) and 'The life and death of 9413: A Hollywood extra' (1927-28).


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## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)

Akira Kurosawa made Rashomon with heavy influences from silent/minimalist films. 






And here's the classic, Nosferatu:


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