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Broken Blossoms (1919)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
Surprisingly effective!...This one is heady with heartfelt emotions of despair with a dashing ray of hope illuminating the decaying urban streets. Our forlorn heroine is Lucy (Lillian Gish) a young girl born of a prostitute mother. The only person in her life is her father (Donald Crisp) a brutish boxing champ full of rage. He likes nothing more than brutally beating his daughter with a horse whip. He's one of the most vilest bad guys I've seen on film. He gave me the creeps...and my heart went out to poor little Lucy. Lucy's one chance in life is when she meets the 'yellow man', a Chinese immigrant (Richard Barthelmess) who falls for this frail flower.
The film is told as a fable and does so very effectively. It's interesting that there's a secondary theme of religion and trying to convert 'heathens' in foreign lands. There's also a unique for it's time positive view on Buddhism. We also see scenes of Chinese culture. The lead is played by a white actor, but, this was a cutting edge film in it's day as it showed interracial love on the big screen.
The movie ends as strong as it starts and stays true to it's fabled style of story telling. A must see.
The film is told as a fable and does so very effectively. It's interesting that there's a secondary theme of religion and trying to convert 'heathens' in foreign lands. There's also a unique for it's time positive view on Buddhism. We also see scenes of Chinese culture. The lead is played by a white actor, but, this was a cutting edge film in it's day as it showed interracial love on the big screen.
The movie ends as strong as it starts and stays true to it's fabled style of story telling. A must see.