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samarlocrossley
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Duck Soup (1933)
Duck Soup is a terrible film. I love it.
Duck Soup is a terrible film. I love it. It is comparable to 22 5-minute youtube skits from 2016 strung together in a barely coherent plot with no real meaning (unless you are determined to find it); it is a 1hr 9 minute black and white film from 1933.
As my introduction to non-silent black-and-white comedy, Duck Soup cannot compete with the physical comedy of Keaton or the storytelling of Chaplin (in fact it cannot match Chaplin's physical comedy or Keaton's storytelling), but it doesn't try to. It uses audible dialogue to its fullest extent, with terrible puns quick retorts and nonsensical sentences.
At first, I was unsure, but after allowing myself to laugh a few times, I quickly became delightfully surprised at the absurd randomness of the Marx brothers. I give this an 8/10, but it was a difficult decision between 7 and 8; I tend to lean towards generous ratings.
By all means this movie does not work if you watch it from the wrong lens, but when one allows oneself to relax, some jokes hit perfectly (a few fall flat in my opinion). If you wish for a short film with cheap laughs which you will walk away from wondering why you enjoyed, this film is incredible.
I should add that this is my first Marx brothers film, and probably a relatively uninformed review - also everything above is my opinion, and my review is extremely subjective. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
A seamlessly crafted, yet easy to watch slapstick
I give this movie a 9-star rating, not because of its importance in cinema, and not entirely due to the story, but because - put simply - it made me laugh. Sherlock Jr.'s bits, body language and general comedy allow it to rival, even outperform modern slapsticks and physical comedies before even beginning to look at the story. My experience with older comedies is limited mainly to Chaplin, as I am sure is the case with many rookie film enthusiasts; this did not worsen my experience whatsoever. I was surprised to see how different the styles were, and how both this comedy and Chaplin's have very much their own identity. I loved many of the scenes in this short film, and my laugh-to-time ratio was higher than city lights (not to take away from that incredible artwork). I don't want to spoil anything, but I will point out that this film is a meta-commentary on cinema as a medium, and shows this in a beautifully effortless manner. The editing was outstanding for the time (I assume), and the exciting scenes gave me more of an adrenaline boost than nearly any action could. It's not that I don't care for modern cinema - that is frankly untrue, but commentaries frequently seem to be more effective in older, often silent films. This - I believe - is due in part to the very nature of silent films. These words may have been uttered by many before me, but a good silent film would be only held back by dialogue. Upon watching this film, I believe I see why Chaplin chose to keep creating silents long after their peak. This all being said, I am sure many will struggle to enjoy this film, but as my introduction to Buster Keaton, I think this film has served him well.
Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920)
Changed my view on the horror genre
Preamble: This is my first review, and as I recently watched this film I thought I might share my thoughts in a spoiler-free manner. This review is mostly my opinion and others may have different views.
I watched The Cabinet of Dr Caligari one night in my room, on my relatively small monitor. I swung back in my chair, expecting a boring, poorly-aged film. Still, due to a glowing recommendation of the film, and being told it was "important to watch" as I was getting into film, I had a fair bit of hope. Seeing it was only 77 minutes, I pressed play and skipped through the opening credits (as you do).
When the film started, it struck me how old it was. There was a cartoonish flickering on the screen, like that of a film made to look "old", except this was the real thing. The music instantly stood out to me and would remain one of the key factors which made the film so great, being silent of course. I should add, do not let this film being silent put you off whatsoever. Text appears on the screen in german, but English subtitles can easily make it accessible.
Not long into the movie, the orange glow surfaced to my attention. I thought it might be a blue light filter acting up. I turned it off, only to still see the tint. I passed it off as 'old film stuff' and continued. Only at the first night scene did I realise this was a directorial decision, which paid off.
On the subject of directorial decisions, the misce-en-scene in this movie is incredible and looking back, I notice many beautiful placements and assortments of items to accompany the film's aims.
I shall not go into the plot of the film as I believe it is best to be watched blind(ish), but I shall speak about its genre choice of "horror". Like many, this put me a bit off on watching the film, but please do not let it fool you. This isn't a cheap jump-scare merchant and has much more than just a few standalone scary scenes. This film manages to convey a story, even more - like another review said - it is art. The horror comes not from typical "scary" sources, but from the plot, the positioning of scenes, the set, the makeup, the acting, and I could go on.
I also won't go into the historical importance that much, as I believe many other reviews can do this better than I, but it is important to remember how influential it is and has been. While not a massive hit at the time, when watching, I suggest you look out for similarities to more modern films, and I'm sure any movie fan will find them.
This movie has a six-act structure, which I adored, and by the sixth, my mind had been successfully boggled, and it left an imprint which would stay there for days.
I am sure you can find far more analytic and accurate reviews, but from the perspective of someone who simply enjoys good cinema, please give this film a go. It deserves it. I am sure based on the average rating, not all will enjoy it as much as I, (I originally gave a 9, but it is one of those films where the more you think about it the better it gets) but for one and a half hours of your time, this film takes you on a journey nearly impossible to replicate. 10/10.