"Actor: Mrs David Landau"

• D.W. Griffith - Monumental Epics | DVD | (24/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  There’s little doubt that much of what we now take for granted about cinema owes much to the vision of director D W Griffith. Monumental Epics collects five of his most influential silent masterpieces. The Birth of a Nation (1915) is also the birth of the epic film. Made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War this provocative film unflinchingly shows the humiliation of Southern culture, the "heroism" of the Ku Klux Klan, and links the Union and Confederacy by a common Aryan birthright. All of which has to be viewed in its period context if it is to be viewed at all. Intolerance (1916) is film-making of epic complexity. Human intolerance is related through a modern tale of wrongful conviction, intercut by three stories from Babylonian, Judean, and French history to point up the issue through the ages. The intricacy of the intercutting is breathtaking even now, but those as confused as the first audiences evidently were can opt to see each story separately. Sensitively tinted, this is Griffith's finest three hours. Broken Blossoms (1919) has Griffith venturing into domestic melodrama. Although there's a clear moral to be drawn from this tale of compassion in the face of ignorance and brutality, neither the over-acting of Lillian Gish and Donald Crisp, nor the vein of sentimentality that creeps into their characters' relationship allow the viewer to forget the period-piece nature of the film. Here an appropriately expressive musical score helps keep viewing at an attentive level. Way Down East (1920) shows Griffith moving from the epic to the personal, though still on a large scale. The combining of old-style melodrama with latter-day female emancipation is tellingly brought off, and Lillian Gish excels as the country girl used and abused by male society, until "rescued" by a farmer of true moral scruples. Unconvinced? Then go straight to the climactic snowstorm and ice floe sequences--Eisenstein et al are inconceivable without this as trailblazer. Abraham Lincoln (1930) marked Griffith's entry into the talkie era. Tautly directed, it offers a historically accurate account of the 16th US President's rise to power and his visionary outlook on American society. Civil War scenes are implied rather than enacted, and its Walter Huston's robust yet understated acting that carries the day, with sterling support from Una Merkel as Ann Rutledge and Hobart Bosworth as General Lee. On the DVD: Stylishly packaged, restoration and digital remastering has been carried out to Eureka's usual high standard, and the 4:3 aspect ratio has commendable clarity. Birth of a Nation has Joseph Carl Breil's original orchestral score and a pithy "making of" film by Russell Merritt. Intolerance contains a useful rolling commentary and a great wurlitzer soundtrack too. Way Down East includes a commentary. Abraham Lincoln also has a commentary, though Hugo Riesenfeld's score often verges on the mawkish. Overall this set is a must for anyone remotely interested in film as a living medium.--Richard Whitehouse

• Way Down East | DVD | (07/05/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Way Down East was the most successful film of the 1920s, even more so than the original versions of Ben-Hur or The Ten Commandments. That says much about tastes and values of the day, since this is no visually spectacular epic designed to wow audiences: director DW Griffith gave it the subtitle "A Simple Story of Plain People". The story follows impoverished New England country girl Anna Moore (Lillian Gish) to Boston in search of family aid. Instead she's duped into a fake marriage by playboy Lennox Sanderson (Lowell Sherman). Pregnancy forces Sanderson to abandon her to care for the child alone, which dies soon after birth. The disgrace sends her back into the countryside to work for Squire Bartlett, whose son David (Richard Barthelmess) begins to fall for her. But the dreadful secret threatens to be revealed, since the dastardly Sanderson turns out to be their neighbour. Themes of loyalty and social change come to a head for a thrilling finale. Amazing stunt work occurs on a frozen river's ice sheets that break up, dashing an unconscious Anna toward a waterfall. Populated by eccentric cameo roles, this view of 1920s' life is a far more fascinating exploration of the contemporary female than the novel or disastrous stage play that preceded it. On the DVD: Naturally a movie from 1920 is in mono and 4:3 ratio (which is effectively the old Academy standard ratio). But with subtle colour tints and using a musical score from its 1931 reissue, it still looks pretty good. Only a few reels have suffered damage (eg some heat blisters), otherwise film historian David Shepard's restoration job is commendable. The only extra is an essay on the history of the film which scrolls up the screen as an introduction. --Paul Tonks