Silent films often have a rough time of it on video. They fall into public domain and are plagued by poor picture quality or atrocious musical scores, and it becomes difficult to see even the best silent films for the treasures that they are. The situation has improved with the rise of DVD, but even the slickest DVD productions would be hard-pressed to match the experience of seeing a classic silent on an enormous screen with live musical accompaniment.
In this case, the enormous screen was provided by Brookline’s luscious Art Deco theater, the Coolidge, and the music was provided by pianist Marty Marks. The classic silent was the wonderfully-titled Flesh and the Devil, in which none less than Greta Garbo and John Gilbert share a forbidden tryst and pay dearly for it.
It was easy for me to reflect on the differences between the experience of seeing the hushed, intoxicating Flesh and the Devil and the screeching blockbuster fare common at today’s cineplex, but it was also striking that some things haven’t changed. Gorgeous lovers and juicy affairs? That works as well now as it did over eighty years ago, thank you very much.
There’s a lot to take in here: William H. Daniels’ haunting black and white cinematography, odd bits of humor stuck in throughout, and the curious, subtext-laden friendship between the two male leads. But until she arrives, you find yourself waiting for Garbo. Her ironically-named temptress Felicitas is so dominant and delicious a figure – just watch her knowingly arching one eyebrow or primping beneath a black widow’s veil – that her inevitable punishment is nearly beside the point.
by Victoria Large | Source: Projected DVD
02 Jun 2008 11:58 PM | Submit Comment