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Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
You should only watch this if you have a real soft spot for silent films that feel like they were filmed in someone's backyard. If you hate slow movies where nothing much happens besides people looking at each other, you will probably want to turn this off after five minutes. 🌵
It's for the kind of person who likes to see how movies used to be before everything got so loud. It is definitely not for anyone looking for an action fix.
The first thing I noticed was the hats. There are so many big, floppy hats in this movie that it almost becomes a character itself. 🎩
Paul Ellis plays the main guy and he has this way of staring at the camera that makes me feel like I did something wrong. He is very intense.
Faustina Lucero is the girl he likes and she spends a lot of time looking out of windows. I think she is supposed to be sad, but it's hard to tell because the film is so grainy.
Everything feels like a play. The actors don't just walk into a room; they enter it like they are waiting for a round of applause.
There is this one scene where a guy is hiding behind a plant. It is a very small plant. You can clearly see him, but the other characters act like he is invisible. It’s actually pretty funny if you don't take it too seriously. 😂
I kept thinking about Ashes of Vengeance while watching this. That movie had a bit more going on, but the the dramatic posing is pretty much the same here.
The sets are clearly painted backdrops. When the wind blows, you can see the "stone" walls wobble a little bit. It’s charming in a way.
It makes me think of The Plow Girl because of that simple, almost flat look. It's not trying to be realistic.
There is a moment where Paul Ellis tries to be romantic and it just looks like he is trying to remember his lines. He grabs his chest and looks at the sky. ☁️
I wonder if people back then thought this was really steamy. To us now, it just looks like someone who had too much coffee.
The movie is quite short, which is a blessing. If it was any longer, the staring might have become boring.
It doesn't have the scale of something like The Red Mark. It feels much more like a small experiment.
One guy in the background just stands perfectly still for about three minutes. I actually thought the video had frozen.
Then he blinked. It was the most exciting thing he did the whole time.
The way they handle the "Spanish" setting is just by putting a guitar in the corner of the room. I don't think anyone even plays it. It just sits there to remind you where they are supposed to be.
If you've seen All Wet, you know how these old shorts can be hit or miss. This one is a miss on the story but a hit on the atmosphere.
I caught myself looking at the furniture more than the actors. There is a very nice rug in the middle of the "Madrid" street.
Why is there a rug in the street? Nobody knows.
It's these little accidents that make watching these old films fun for me. You see the mistakes they couldn't edit out back then.
The ending happens very fast. One minute they are arguing, and the next, it’s just over.
I sat there for a second wondering if I missed a reel. But no, that was just how they did it.
It’s not as polished as The Menace. It’s rougher around the edges.
I guess if you want to see what a "period piece" looked like over a hundred years ago, this is a fine example. Just don't expect to be moved to tears or anything.
It’s just a weird little slice of time. A bit dusty. A bit silly.
Sometimes the film gets these white scratches all over it. It looks like it’s raining inside the house. 🌧️
I actually liked that part. It added to the feeling that I was watching something that shouldn't have survived this long.
Anyway, give it a look if you’re bored and want to see some epic 1911 eyebrow acting.
IMDb —
1917
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