Thanks, Sam. In a way it's strangely reassurin...

2009-06-19T22:55:37.784-04:00

Thanks, Sam. In a way it's strangely reassuring to hear you say you rank it a little lower than I. This is certainly among the more artistically expressive films to come out in the 1910s, although I've found its reputation to be (mostly) inflated. Still, there's a lot of charm to it, and a lot of macabre aspects which are unintentionally charming. No masterpiece, to be sure.

"The special effects here, if one can call th...

2009-06-17T16:45:33.749-04:00

"The special effects here, if one can call them such, are inspiring. Equipped with only physical materials (which are used to create striking angular sets and loose, simplistic costumes that evoke the story's origins in the theater) and a knowledge of celluloid, Tourneur pulls off a distinctive world positioned with one foot in reality and the other in fantasy. No doubt Tourneur was heavily influenced by the cinema of Georges Méliès, where strategic cuts could make people appear and disappear from and into thin air; overlay images to create ghostly amalgams; and blend the real and the artificial into a gimmicky sort of cinematic pleasure."

Magnificent passage there, which I complete agree with. At th eend of the day I rank this film a little lower than you do but I can'y deny it's a remarkable (metaphorical)achievement for its day. And yes it does pre-date the lead-off jewel in the Expressionist canon-Wiene's CALIGARI, making it all that more noteworthy. It's a far more distinguished film that SNOW WHITE as you rightly assert.

Wonderful relic on display here in your much appreciated survey of silent American cinema.

Comments on Screen Savour: The Blue Bird (1918)

Thanks, Sam. In a way it's strangely reassurin...

"The special effects here, if one can call th...