Lot in Sodom (1933)

One of the few unspoken wonders of the silent era in film was that you could do just about anything in real life (a teacher, doctor, or even the cashier at the local drug store), but if you wanted to make a movie, you could and someone would consider you a genius.

Personally, im not one for stories from the Bible (just not as interesting as some might think), but when you have the word "sodom" thrown in there, one begins to think things are going to get bumpy (as interesting as it gets).

Sodomy sells people, and a little bit of homosexuality never hurt anyone, and salt, American lives on salt.


This (like most Biblical films) was done very well, a quality of work one would expect from a man with a medical degree (see? you could be anyone). It stuck to the story and didn't try and get all pretentious and outlandish like those haughty Europeans across the pond. This was the throwing of the gauntlet. This was proof that we know what the hell we are doing, even if no one else does.

On to the film,
The human furiousity depicted in this movie is insane. You really get a grasp of the energy and pure exhiliration of what went on in this little city of pure human indulgance.

The "experimentation" used in this movie is comprised of dissolves and images transfixed on top of other images (often a mirror image or the same shot flipped and ran along with the original. This is what seperates this movie from others in the same genre. Sodom was a place of pure debauchery and one can see it in the presentation. Even if you have no knowledge of this story (I have very little, but then again Wikipedia is always just a click away) this movie is just a good example of the type of Avant-Garde or Experimental film us Americans were bringing to the world (the 1930's, as you know, were the years of the German filmaker, and quite frankly some of the best films ever were made in this decade).

Another reason this movie scores high is that it was a complete turn from what Hollywood was shelling out at the time. The 30's in America were the years of early noir and crime dramas, and this was somewhere out in the left field (along with very few others, at least here in the states) of it all, and to be honest, this was really one of the forefathers of Avant-Garde in America, and brought about the birth of "alternative filmaking" and the postwar influx of art in every medium.
The basis of the story might turn some away (both the non religious and those afraid of clogged arteries ), but i can't recommend this movie more. It is always a pleasure to see the actualy beginnings of a movement. The best part of it all is that you can find it for free online (Public Domain here people), so at the end of it all you don't really lose out on anything.

Plus, whats more fun than seeing someone turn into a giant pile of salt?

Blacksmith Scene (1893)

Only clocking in at 36 seconds or so, this is one of the first actual uses of film as a medium for displaying an action or story (Dickson Greeting is actually known as the first film ever, just made seven years earlier), so this was pretty amazing for the time. Now though, its just thirty odd seconds of three men drinking and banging on some metal.

More of a test of equipment than actually telling a story of some sort, this little piece of cinematic history is just interesting to watch and see where filmaking all started.

Seriously, they are drinking beer and banging metal, it doesn't get any realer than that.

The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

Only a few films have been made around the whole "flying carpet and magic rope" genre, and to be quite honest i think that is a good thing, as not to dilude an amazing world that is brilliantly portrayed in one of the finest pieces of Fantasy film i have seen in a while.

Douglas Fairbanks, the "The King of Hollywood" at one time, is AMAZING in this film as the Thief (although not the only thief). He plays the arrogant almost..."douchebaggish"....theif who through plowing his daily toll out of more civilized folk finds himself on a much grander scale adventure than stealing money from snobby townsfolk. This involves daring swordfights and deadly monsters, but all set to the silent hue of filmmaking, which i think is some of the finest film in the world.

Douglas Fairbanks. His silent film skills are mesmerizing, and the way he plays off his surroundings as nonchalantly as he does is incredible and he has a feeling of deep involvement in the characters that he plays. He knows he is telling a story and he wants to please adult and child alike, and through his acting he captivates the hearts of many, and very successfully mind you.

Besides great acting this movie also had really good (for the time) special effects. The magic rope actually had me taking a double-take a few times, it was that realistic. The quick cuts are done almost subtlely enough to make you think nothing was changed in the shot. No children were harmed in this movie (to my knowledge) so don't go thinking that now.

As with most silent films, the rest of the cast has to play off the figurehead of the film, and the cast of The Thief of Bagdad adds to the wonder of the entire scope of the film perfectly, both inhancing its wonder and dream like view and making this film more memorable.

These visual effects, along with Fairbanks and an amazing (although a bit cliched nowadays) story and this is what child's dreams are made of. This is the stuff of wonders and amazement. Fantasy is defined with this movie, not simply taken and contourted somehow, this is the definition of what fantasy is.

Much like Aladdin is to our decade, this was to the children of the 20's, and it hasn't lost any of its strength eighty years down the road. The lusterous glory of Arabian times still sows wonders in the heads of millions, and it isn't showing any signs of slowing down.

Symphonie diagonale (1924)

Ah, the land of Public Domain. a place where you can find true gems and hidden treasures, or really bad movies that are no surprise to have had their copyright run out. This little movie is, for lack of a better way to put it, not for everyone. There is no plot, sound,color, or anything but stark images on a black screen for an extended period of time. This images can be interpreted anyway you want (i thought they represented the beating of a heart, but that is just me) and it is done so abstractly that the list is infinite.

You wont find this film on DVD so look for it online (again, Public Domains are a good thing here) and there is no reason whatsoever that you would want to watch this movie other than the fact you can say you have seen it and further alienate yourself from your peers. With this being said, there is no reason not watch this movie, but most will feel that the seven minutes it takes you to watch this will forever be wasted. Just a little piece of Abstract pie that takes you back to when the whole idea of making movies was still a fresh idea in culture and the results were generally endless.

There is no real way to defend this little film, or even condemn it for that matter. It is simply a showing of one of the forefathers of Abstract/Avant-Garde film genre, and to be quite honest, it is one of the better presentations of said subject.It is abstract enough without totally confusing the viewer, but deep enough to envoke artistic thought on what is actually being protrayed.

Most "Avant-Garde" claiming movies out there are pieces of pretentious rubble that aren't worth your time (I might actually get to some of them soon enough), but this has just the right balance of imagery and lack of anything else that earns itself a proper place in the niche of Abstract film.

Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog) (1929)

The word "structure" does not apply to "Un Chien Andalou", Luis Buñuel's first attempt at making Surrealism a household ideal, and with the help of Surrealism savant Salvador Dalí (the man who painted the melting clocks) he is able to show you what 17 minutes of pure free form thought (or insanity, depends on how you look at it) looks like. There is no plot whatsoever and one would be a fool to try and surmise an idea of what exactly is going on. This the exact opposite of what this movie entends to do (we aren't talking about symbolism at every turn here, in fact there is nothing in this movie that means anything other than what you see at face vaule).

From the close-up slicing of a womans eye (if this does not tell you what kind of ride your in for then there is no helping you) to the dragging of dead and decomposing donkeys stuffed inside two pianos (i'm not making this stuff up, I swear) and all the confusing twists, turns, ups and downs in between, this movie will take you somewhere you had no idea exsisted and shows that it takes nothing but a clear sense that you are in control and can use that power to make a monumental film.

There is no dialogue spoken in this film and all the acting have the low frame rate quality of earlier films that adds a dreamy touch to the overall production and keeping the idea of of there is no clear idea deeply dug into the viewers mind.

The soundtrack is just as varied as the visuals is lays behind. One moment it is upbeat (akin to a ballroom party of the European flavor) then the violins drone into a settling soundscape then into daunting highs but never abandonning it's sweet serinty. I dont think i've ever seen a woman get run over and not hear some dramatic music to match the action being shown on the screen (it was the most pleasant hit and run i've ever seen).

Being the mouthpieces of Surrealism at the time, Buñuel and Dalí had no intentions to please the crowds (seriously, these guys were crazy and they knew it) but rather to provoke thought and show that anyone can pretty much do anything they want in the name of art.

If you are a fan of the Avant-Garde movement of the twentys or just want to see what having no artistic constraints whatsoever looks like then you should check this little slice of Heaven out.