Silent Films

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Though it can be difficult for contemporary viewers to approach the world of silent film, it is one which, when pursued, is certainly rewarding.  To view these movies is not only to experience the social and political phenomena that affected those living at the turn of the 20th century, but also to see the evolution of the film industry as we know it.  Such films gave rise to film theories and techniques that are still seen today, and were seriously inventive when it came to staging and special effects.  Furthermore, these pictures were made in a variety of genres, so if you do not find yourself enthralled by the moody ethereality of early German Expressionism or fascinated by the sweeping epics of Abel Gance,  chances are you'll be guffawing at the slapstick of Charlie Chaplin. 

Below you'll find out more about the films that have stood the test of time: we hope that they'll withstand your tests as well.

Soviet Cinema

Modern cinema owes a large debt of gratitude to filmmakers Sergei Eisenstein and Lev Kuleshov,  early pioneers in montage theory.  Through montage, a director can compose a number of unrelated shots into a sequence that condenses space, time, and information as well as conveys symbolic meanings.  Eisenstein especially used these techniques to evoke audience emotion and create effective metaphors: in Strike  and most notably, The Battleship Potemkin  with its Odessa Steps scene, there is no question that these films are highly effective and extremely stirring.

Battleship Potemkin  (1925)
Sergei Eisenstein 

October: Ten Days That Shook the World  (1927)
Sergei Eisenstein 

Earth  (1927)
Alexander Dovzhenko 

Mother  (1926)
Vsevolud Pudovkin 

Man with a Movie Camera  (1929)
Dziga Vertov 

German Expressionism

Due to the economic restraints imposed by the post-war recovery period, Germany was in no position to compete with the Hollywood studio system, so filmmakers had to make do with limited resources.  Therefore, German cinema following World War I is known for being highly stylized and very symbolic: everything is about mise en scène and mood.  While watching these pictures, you will notice non-realistic (to the point of absurdist) sets and interplay between shadow and light.  Storylines are heavily focused on the battle between good and evil, sanity and insanity, loyalty and betrayal.  For an outstanding example of Expressionism, we recommend starting with Paul Wegener's  The Golem  and working from there.

Metropolis  (1927)
Fritz Lang 

Nosferatu  (1922)
F.W. Murnau 

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari  (1920)
Robert Wiene 

Pandora's Box  (1929)
G.W. Pabst 

The Last Laugh  (1924)
F.W. Murnau 

American Silent Film

American innovations in film theory directly rival those of the Soviets: were it not for developments made to advance the idea of film as storytelling, the industry would not be what it is today.  In the early years of production, most movies were short montages of pictures that were practially independent of flow or logic: the general consensus was that this new medium was merely a novelty, not a vehicle.  However, with D.W. Griffith's  epic The Birth of a Nation,  a three-hour long (!) epic chronicling two family's history throughout the Civil War and Reconstruction, those ideas were radically changed.  Regardless of its highly controversial subject matter, the aesthetic techniques Griffith employed were revolutionary: cuts, closeups, a variety of shots, nighttime and on-location filming, and so on.  If you can get through its difficult racial overtones, you will be rewarded with what is often regarded as the most important film ever made.

The General  (1926)
Buster Keaton 

City Lights  (1931)
Charles Chaplin 

The Birth of a Nation  (1915)
D.W. Griffith 

The Phantom of the Opera  (1925)
Rupert Julian 

Nanook of the North  (1922)
Robert Flaherty 

True Classics

Thirsty for more?  Check out these masterpieces from Danish, Spanish, French, British and Italian filmmakers.  Or, if you're in the moody for a contemporary (and comic) take on silent cinema, try Mel Brooks'  Silent Movie! 

The Passion of Joan of Arc  (1928)
Carl Theodor Dreyer 

Un Chien Andalou  (1928)
Salvador Dalí  and Luis Buñuel 

Napoleon  (1927)
Abel Gance 

The Lodger  (1926)
Alfred Hitchcock 

Cabiria  (1914)
Giovanni Pastrone 

Related Guides

Foreign Films

Independent Films

Drama Films

Classic Films

Horror and Suspense Films

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