How had I never heard of this film? I just recently watched it in my film class, prefaced by the Portlandia clip bringing out the film nerdiness of it. Unlike others in my class, I'm not automatically turned off by the notion of a silent film, so I went into it with an open mind.
The sets were automatically noticeable to me; the overuse of jagged edges and strangely shaped walls and doors. My professor pointed out after that this was done to show that our main character is an unreliable narrator, which worked out great.
The acting was overall pretty great, especially by the Director/"Caligardi". The use of fade ins and outs got old pretty fast in the beginning, but I eventually got used to it.
The plot kept me interested throughout and the only slow scenes I can think of are the ones immediately following the death of the narrator's friend. It was like scene after scene of him giving these "Oh, the horror!" faces.
I was completely satisfied with what I thought was the ending, and then even more suprised and delighted when the twist was revealed (according to my professor, this was the first real twist in a film. I don't know if that's true or not, but it's a nice thought).
Overall, this was a great film. Although a little slow at times, which is expected in an old silent film, the plot drove along and kept me wondering.
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