The Love of Zero is a trippy, jagged little silent dream

You should definitely watch this today if you have ten minutes and like things that look like a fever dream. It's perfect for people who enjoy weird art school projects from nearly a hundred years ago. People who need a clear plot or hate black-and-white silence will probably turn it off after two minutes.

Zero is this guy who plays a trombone that looks way too big for him. It’s almost like the instrument is wearing him instead of the other way around.

The sets are the first thing you notice because they aren't real rooms at all. Everything is made of jagged cardboard and weird angles that make your head hurt if you look too close.

He meets Beatrix and suddenly the movie gets all soft and fuzzy. They do this thing called "spooning" which is just them sitting very close, but it feels incredibly heavy with emotion for such a short clip.

The way the film uses double exposures is actually pretty cool for 1927. You see faces floating over other faces and it feels very modern in a way I didn't expect.

Then this letter comes from Kabul. Why Kabul? No idea, but it’s from a Grand Vizier and it ruins everything.

The despair on Zero's face when she has to leave is actually kind of heartbreaking. He looks like a kicked puppy, but with a better hat.

I loved the part where the screen just fills up with multiple images of his trombone. It’s like the movie is screaming his sadness at you through the visuals because it can't use sound.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Love of Zero (1928) through its definitive frames.

It reminds me a little of the chaotic energy in Felix Monkeys with Magic, though that one is obviously a lot more silly. This is more like a poem written by someone who just got dumped.

Some of the acting is a bit much, even for a silent film. Zero does this thing with his hands that feels like he's trying to catch flies.

But the visual style is so strong you don't really care about the over-acting. It’s much more interesting to look at than something like The Perfect Woman which feels way more grounded.

The ending is just... heavy. It doesn't give you a hug or tell you things will be okay.

It just leaves Zero there with his big instrument and his big sadness. 🎺💔

Its's a bit of a bummer, honestly. But a beautiful one that doesn't overstay its welcome.

I think I’ve seen some of these jagged set designs in much later horror movies. It's wild how much people were stealing from these early experimental guys.

If you're looking for a quick hit of Expressionism without having to sit through a two-hour epic, this is the one. Just don't expect a happy ending or a logical explanation for the Kabul thing.