Scandal (1928) - A messy silent movie about why neighbors are the worst

Is it worth the watch?

If you have an hour and you like watching people be incredibly petty to each other, then yeah, give Scandal (1928) a go.

It’s perfect for anyone who has ever had a neighbor complain about their music or steal their parking spot. 🚗

But if you are looking for something like Avatar with huge effects and a million things happening at once, you will be bored to tears.

This is a quiet, grainy, and slightly frantic movie about a very small problem that gets way out of hand.

The Plot (Or lack thereof)

So the whole thing is set in this crowded apartment building where everyone is basically living on top of each other.

Vera lives in this one room and apparently, it’s a very nice room because the neighbors are willing to ruin her entire reputation just to get her to move out.

It’s kind of funny how some things never change, like people being obsessed with real estate. 🏠

They start telling everyone that Vera is basically a bad person, and the tragedy is that her boyfriend, Alexei, actually listens to them.

Alexei is played by Dmitry Kipiani, and he spends a lot of the movie looking deeply concerned and staring off into the distance like he’s trying to remember if he left the stove on.

I found myself yelling at the screen because he’s so easily fooled by these obviously mean people.

The Hooligan Factor

Then there is this guy Sashka, who is labeled as a 'hooligan'.

He’s the one who actually escalates things from just whispering in hallways to actual violence.

There is a scene where he wounds Vera, and it feels surprisingly sudden compared to the rest of the movie which is just people talking (well, gesturing wildly).

The lighting in these scenes is actually pretty cool, very dark and moody, making the hallways look like something out of a horror film. 🕯️

It reminded me a bit of the vibe in The Legion of Death, though maybe not as intense.

Wait, why is everyone so mean?

I kept thinking about how Vera just wanted to love Alexei and have a quiet life.

The neighbors are portrayed with these really exaggerated faces—lots of squinting and pointing.

One lady in the background of a hallway scene has a facial expression that haunted me for like ten minutes after the scene ended.

She wasn't even a main character, just a neighbor being nosy, but she looked so genuinely evil. 👿

It makes the movie feel less like a polished story and more like a fever dream about living in a bad neighborhood.

Some technical stuff (I guess?)

The pacing is a bit weird. It starts slow, then everything happens in the last ten minutes.

It’s not as funny as All Wrong, which is fine, because it’s trying to be a serious drama about social morals or whatever.

But some of the 'serious' moments are hard not to giggle at because of how long the actors hold their poses.

There is one shot of Vera crying that goes on for so long I started checking my phone. 📱

I think the director really wanted us to feel her pain, but after thirty seconds of the same face, I got the point.

The Ending

Alexei finally realizes he’s a dummy for believing the gossip, but it takes Vera getting hurt for him to wake up.

It’s one of those endings that feels a bit too tidy, like 'oh, everything is fixed now because I said sorry'.

I don't know if I'd forgive him that easily if I were her.

The movie doesn't really show us what happens to the neighbors, which is a bummer because I wanted to see them get kicked out instead.

It’s a strange little relic of 1928 that shows how people have always been obsessed with drama. 🎭

Not a masterpiece, but it’s got a weird energy that kept me watching until the end.

Check it out if you want to see what 'cancel culture' looked like before the internet existed.