Broken Blossoms (1919)

That was an excellent one.

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Great movie by the pioneer D.W. Griffith. It is beautifully filmed (including the quite realistic boxing footage) and has really amazing performances by Donald Crisp as the violent alcoholic misogynist boxer Battling Burrows and Lillian Gish as her suffering daughter Lucy (white Richard Barthelmess, though, does not convince so much as the "yellow man" from China). Although with a naive idea of an always peaceful Eastern spirit, it denounces xenophobia and - very curiously - racism. Besides that, by portraying domestic violence it also denounces misogyny. The story begins in a slow pace showing the contrast between calm Chinese people and brute Western sailors. Years after the "yellow man" comes to London slums, he knows a charming girl whose life is a hell, as her father alternates between boxing, drinking in the bar, and beating her at home. Then, what had began monotonously is turned into a storm. I have not watched "Intolerance" yet, but this is my favorite film by Griffith, author of infamous "The birth of a nation", by far (I have also watched "A Corner in Wheat").

The word "beautiful" has been used time and time again to describe the D.W. Griffith directed masterpiece that is "Broken Blossoms". To be perfectly honest, it's hard not to describe it using that word for it is, indeed, quite beautiful. Perhaps this is the most beautiful of all silent cinema!Being one of the first films based on a poem, "Broken Blossoms" certainly has a poetic vibe to it. From the story/events that take place to the imagery to the editing techniques, the film feels like poetry, and I feel as if that was Mr. Griffith's goal in a way. To make a truly poetic film (however I, of course, cannot 100% speak for the man he's been dead for years).With some really mature themes attached to it (some sequences containing abuse towards Lilian Gish's character are still hard to watch today), "Broken Blossoms" is ahead of its time in almost every way. D.W. Griffith has been labeled the father of film, and I believe that he certainly deserves that label. As evident in films like "The Birth of a Nation", "Intolerance", and this (much smaller scale) film, Griffith certainly changed the cinema forever. The editing and filmmaking techniques used here are astoundingly powerful increasing the emotional intensity.It's hard for me to imagine "Broken Blossoms" as a sound film, because the silence of it really enhances the beauty and poeticism. Griffith's editing is somehow made more intense by that strong silence, and the emotional impact is greatly benefited.At only 90 minutes, "Broken Blossoms" is short, simple, and simply wonderful.

One of the most poignant and troubled stories ever to be brought to the big screen, Broken Blossoms came to the attention of D.W. Griffith via Mary Pickford who showed him the original novel. No doubt she saw herself as the leading lady and why wouldn't she as Pickford made her living playing child like waifs in her career. So it must have left her miffed when was not cast and Griffith's number one star Lillian Gish was.Gish plays the illegitimate daughter of a brute of a man, Donald Crisp who is a prize fighter and who hates all who are not of his kind. And he's not good to many of his own, including Gish who is his own flesh and blood. After a beating Gish seeks refuge and finds it with Chinese merchant Richard Barthelmess.You could never remake this film today with Occidental Barthelmess cast as an Oriental today. In fact the idea of Barthelmess even to have feelings for a white girl and it being disapproved of no matter how chaste everyone was would be picketed today. Still Griffith who was not a liberal on racial matters, he was the creative force behind the Birth Of A Nation, does do a great job in showing the feelings of both Gish and Barthelmess. In fact Gish portrays one of the earliest victims of child abuse on the screen.As for Crisp he played a few villains in his career in the sound era, but never was he as brutal as he is as Battling Burrows. Quite a 180 degree turn from the kindly, but stern family patriarch which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for in How Green Was My Valley 20 years later.Gish, Barthelmess, and Crisp all are fabulous in their parts and Broken Blossoms even holds up well despite attitudes long left in the past.

As someone who has very little exposure to silent films (I know they are the basis for our cinema today), I know I'm probably sounding somewhat ignorant, but I just didn't care for it much. I found it kind of hard to get into. It was somewhat hard to follow in certain places, I felt like if you turned your head way for a second you kind of get lost. Definitely a movie you have to pay attention to. Im not a big fan of the way the movie was narrated by subtitles so often, I think it would of better more interesting for the viewer to be able to see that unfold for themselves. The one thing I can say overall that really grabbed me was the details in the sets. Great artefacts, like the Chinese pipes , decorations etc. The buildings in all scenes are extremely convincing. Great effects like with the fog and use of light. But overall I just didn't love the story for some reason. All though his love for Lucy was very touching.