Yep, Lang was no comedian. But then, neither were others of the early silent writers and directors. The surrealist film Un chien Andalou by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali is one of the strangest things I've ever seen. Thank the gods it's only 16 minutes long, because I'm sure an hour of that would drive anyone insane.
Another one I have seen, though I can't remember the title, was made by either a French or German film maker and features the temptations of a Roman Catholic priest who has fallen in love (or lust) with a woman who comes to him for confession. It is filled with drawn out misery, scenes of him crawling up cobblestone streets on his knees or imagining being carried away by overwhelming floods of water. The saving grace was the organist at the showing, Jay Warren, who kept entertaining us by shouting out comments from the organ console, such as "You haven't seen the worst yet" or "Halfway done, grit your teeth!" The music, needless to say, was the reason I went to see it, so it was still worthwhile.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-08-19 02:33 pm (UTC)Yep, Lang was no comedian. But then, neither were others of the early silent writers and directors. The surrealist film Un chien Andalou by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali is one of the strangest things I've ever seen. Thank the gods it's only 16 minutes long, because I'm sure an hour of that would drive anyone insane.
Another one I have seen, though I can't remember the title, was made by either a French or German film maker and features the temptations of a Roman Catholic priest who has fallen in love (or lust) with a woman who comes to him for confession. It is filled with drawn out misery, scenes of him crawling up cobblestone streets on his knees or imagining being carried away by overwhelming floods of water. The saving grace was the organist at the showing, Jay Warren, who kept entertaining us by shouting out comments from the organ console, such as "You haven't seen the worst yet" or "Halfway done, grit your teeth!" The music, needless to say, was the reason I went to see it, so it was still worthwhile.