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7.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. My Grandmother remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have ever spent three hours waiting for a government worker to stamp one piece of paper, you need to see this. It is a silent movie from 1929, but it feels like it was written by someone who just had a mental breakdown at the DMV. People who enjoy surrealism or stop-motion will think it is a masterpiece. If you hate old movies where the camera doesn't move much, you might struggle, though this one tries very hard to be fast.
The main guy is a total pen-pusher. He is so lazy it is actually impressive. He literally has a sign on his desk that tells people to go away while he does nothing. Eventually, he gets the boot.
Then the movie gets really strange. He finds out he needs a "grandmother." In this world, that is not a sweet lady who bakes you bread. It is a powerful person who can pull strings for you.
The visual style is just out of control. The buildings are all tilted and the desks are massive. It reminds me a little of the sets in The Little Intruder, but way more stressed out. Everything feels like it is about to fall over.
There is this one scene with stop-motion animation that caught me off guard. The desks and chairs start moving around like they are alive. It is creepy but also kind of funny in a dark way. I honestly did not expect a 100-year-old movie to have better practical effects than some stuff on Netflix today.
Aleksandre Takaishvili plays the lead and his face is just... incredible. He looks like a cartoon character that came to life and then immediately regretted it. He spends half the movie looking like he is about to cry or fall asleep. It is the perfect performance for a guy who just wants to sit in a chair and get paid for it.
I think the reason this was banned for forty years is because it is too honest. It shows the system as a giant, clunky machine that does not care about anyone. It is not quite as romantic as Cleopatra or those big epics. It is much more gritty and mean-spirited.
There is a bit where he tries to hang himself and even fails at that because he is so bad at everything. It is a very dark joke. I laughed, but I felt a little bad about it. The movie doesn't really have a "moral" other than maybe that everything is a bit of a scam.
It is not a perfect film. Some of the middle parts where he is just wandering around feel a bit repetitive. You get the point pretty early on. But the ending is just a giant explosion of weirdness that makes up for it.
The camera angles are all over the place. Low angles, high angles, everything is distorted. It makes the office look like a prison. It makes you feel as trapped as the characters do.
If you want to see something that doesn't feel like a typical "important" silent film, give this a shot. It is loud, messy, and very angry. It is probably the most relatable movie ever made about having a job you hate.
Anyway, it’s a trip. Watch it with the lights off.
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