DbcultAccessing Vault...
7.1/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.1/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Piccadilly remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
The first thing you’ll notice about Piccadilly isn’t its plot, but how it just looks. If you like silent films, or just want to see some serious visual storytelling from nearly a century ago, this is a must-watch. It’s a stylish, moody trip through London’s dance halls and hidden alleys in 1929. But, fair warning, if you need constant talking or things moving super fast, you might get a little bored.
It starts in a sweaty, noisy nightclub kitchen. Lots of steam and clanking. There’s Shosho, played by the truly incredible Anna May Wong, just washing dishes. Her quiet focus against all that ruckus? Immediate impact. Then she gets pulled out onto the main stage, because the club’s lead dancer isn’t exactly thrilling the crowd. Classic underdog story, but with this simmering, dark edge.
Wong. Wow. She just takes over every shot she's in. Her acting is so expressive, even without a single spoken word. You can just feel her ambition, her vulnerability, her surprising strength. There’s a dance sequence, the camera just stays on her, letting her body and face tell everything. It’s completely mesmerizing. She doesn't just perform; she owns the whole screen.
The club owner, Valentine Wilmot (Jameson Thomas), is instantly drawn to her. That’s how these things go, right? This sets up a really tangled situation, with his wife Mabel (Gilda Gray), who was the original star. Mabel’s jealousy is thick, like a bad smell. Gilda Gray, a big flapper figure herself, plays it with this sort of tired glamour. You almost feel for her, but then she’s just so *mean* to Shosho.
The film’s feel for London? Spot on. Those smoky, packed dance floors, the shadowy backstreets. It really nails the vibe of that specific era. The sets are quite something, especially the club itself. All the lights and spinning dancers, it just hums with life. Then they switch to these tight, almost suffocating scenes in small rooms, and the tension ratchets right up.
There’s this one bit, early on, where Shosho is practicing her dance moves all alone in the kitchen. Pots and pans all around her. It’s a really quiet, determined moment. Then boom, she’s under the spotlight, and the change is electric. It’s a brilliant visual shortcut, showing her raw talent just exploding.
The forbidden love stuff? That’s where things get super messy. Without giving away the big twists, there's a relationship that feels dangerous from the start. It’s not some grand, swoony romance. More like desperate feelings and the ugly, unexpected results of desire. The movie doesn't sugarcoat any of that.
A little detail I liked: how everyone smokes. Like, *everyone* has a cigarette or a cigar, and the smoke just hangs there. It creates this fantastic atmosphere, both gritty and glamorous. Feels very real for the time, you know?
IMDb —
1920
Community
Log in to comment.
