A great classic

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it seemed to have a strong reputation and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. During the last months, I have been focusing on movies from the 20’s but, to be honest, many of them were really obscure and, above all, not really good at all. Well, this movie was the very last one in this cycle and, fortunately, it turned out to be really amazing. I have to admit that the first 20 mins were actually rather disjointed and I did struggle to get a good grip on the damned thing at first. However, this seemingly convoluted structure might have enhanced the weird nature of this rather fascinating picture. Anyway, it will be a good excuse to revisit it in a few years. It might be also one of the most virulent anti-alcohol films I have seen but this movie went so much deeper than that though. Indeed, by now I have seen my share of tragic melodramas that they used to make back in those days but there was something really different about this one. Sure, the tone was pretty dark which was pretty neat but it went beyond that. There was something really poetic about this movie as well and the ending was pretty much pitch-perfect. It was visually also striking and, in this area, it was much more satisfying that most of the other movies I have seen from this time period. Concerning the acting, Victor Sjöström, who also directed the damned thing, really stood out playing David Holm, a rather wretched man but the arc of his story in this movie was just so spellbinding to behold. Anyway, to conclude, this movie really deserves its stellar reputation, it is a great classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

9/10