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dangermousieMy movie rec of the day is the silent romance blockbuster, Seventh Heaven.
Why a silent? Aren't they quaint and artificial and outdated? A badly-made silent is one of the most excruciating film experiences (unless you watch it MST3K style), but a well-made one is a whole other experience. Maybe it's because any movie with dialogue in it is going to be more or less imitating life (in some cases significantly less :D). But a silent movie has to rely on a lot of visuals to get the point across. It's art in movement and can convey pure distilled emotion like nothing else. A good silent movie will almost not need the titles. Seventh Heaven is one such.
This was a huge huge hit in 1927. Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell were one of the most popular screen couples of the time (silents were rather Bollywood-like in sticking with couples that worked and reteaming them), and this is their most famous movie. The title song, "Smile for me, my Diane" was the 1920s version of top of the charts and this was one of the movies for which Janet Gaynor won the first-ever Best Actress Oscar (the only time they gave it for the body of work for that year). It also won Best Director and Best Screenplay. And unlike some of the blockbuster silents (like the overacted, dime-store-plotted "The Sheik") this one actually lives up to its hype.
"Seventh Heaven" is set in Paris on the brink of World War I. Chico (Farrell) is a brawny and over-confident street cleaner. He cleans the sewers and his biggest ambition is to actually work above, on the streets. He is loud and in-your-face and he loves to brag, but all of that conceals his insecurity and a rough sense of justice. Diane (Gaynor) is a beaten-down, abused sister of a drug addict. One day Chico sees Diane being beaten by her druggie sister and intervenes, even though he is half-ashamed of it. Circumstances end up pushing them together and they end up living in Chico's apartment (a garret on the 7th floor, hence the name of the movie). It's a tender, unspoken relationship that humanizes them both: he shows a reticent vulnerability and a boyish sense of fun, and she blooms in the atmosphere of caring and comfort and develops a spine and will of her own. And then World War I arrives and...suffice it to say, audiences were bawling by the end (whether in happiness or misery, I'll let you find out for yourself).
I love this movie. The visuals are beautiful: the swimming camera shot as Diane and Chico climb through all the floors of the tenement he lives in is gorgeous. And I love the little nuances of the characters: watch the scene where he rescues her from her sister. He is trying to "talk tough" because he is having a lunch break with his buddies but he keeps sneaking glances at her, broken and crumpled in the gutter. And her pure despair as she grabs his bread knife and tries to kill herself. Or the scene where the helps him put on his long belt (the scene in Gadar when Amisha Patel helps Sunny Deol on with his turban reminds me of this). Plus, Farrell and Gaynor have crazy chemistry. Unless romances (and this is unabashedly so) aren't your bag at all, I do recommend this.
If you don't believe me, there is a very good review for this at: http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/7theaven.html
Why a silent? Aren't they quaint and artificial and outdated? A badly-made silent is one of the most excruciating film experiences (unless you watch it MST3K style), but a well-made one is a whole other experience. Maybe it's because any movie with dialogue in it is going to be more or less imitating life (in some cases significantly less :D). But a silent movie has to rely on a lot of visuals to get the point across. It's art in movement and can convey pure distilled emotion like nothing else. A good silent movie will almost not need the titles. Seventh Heaven is one such.
This was a huge huge hit in 1927. Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell were one of the most popular screen couples of the time (silents were rather Bollywood-like in sticking with couples that worked and reteaming them), and this is their most famous movie. The title song, "Smile for me, my Diane" was the 1920s version of top of the charts and this was one of the movies for which Janet Gaynor won the first-ever Best Actress Oscar (the only time they gave it for the body of work for that year). It also won Best Director and Best Screenplay. And unlike some of the blockbuster silents (like the overacted, dime-store-plotted "The Sheik") this one actually lives up to its hype.
"Seventh Heaven" is set in Paris on the brink of World War I. Chico (Farrell) is a brawny and over-confident street cleaner. He cleans the sewers and his biggest ambition is to actually work above, on the streets. He is loud and in-your-face and he loves to brag, but all of that conceals his insecurity and a rough sense of justice. Diane (Gaynor) is a beaten-down, abused sister of a drug addict. One day Chico sees Diane being beaten by her druggie sister and intervenes, even though he is half-ashamed of it. Circumstances end up pushing them together and they end up living in Chico's apartment (a garret on the 7th floor, hence the name of the movie). It's a tender, unspoken relationship that humanizes them both: he shows a reticent vulnerability and a boyish sense of fun, and she blooms in the atmosphere of caring and comfort and develops a spine and will of her own. And then World War I arrives and...suffice it to say, audiences were bawling by the end (whether in happiness or misery, I'll let you find out for yourself).
I love this movie. The visuals are beautiful: the swimming camera shot as Diane and Chico climb through all the floors of the tenement he lives in is gorgeous. And I love the little nuances of the characters: watch the scene where he rescues her from her sister. He is trying to "talk tough" because he is having a lunch break with his buddies but he keeps sneaking glances at her, broken and crumpled in the gutter. And her pure despair as she grabs his bread knife and tries to kill herself. Or the scene where the helps him put on his long belt (the scene in Gadar when Amisha Patel helps Sunny Deol on with his turban reminds me of this). Plus, Farrell and Gaynor have crazy chemistry. Unless romances (and this is unabashedly so) aren't your bag at all, I do recommend this.
If you don't believe me, there is a very good review for this at: http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/7theaven.html
