The Mute Mania

     I enjoy silent films. I think that the films from that era require a great deal of creativity and effort. Since there was no speaking, the actors had to work a lot harder to get the plot of the story across. Their acting skills are more refined then actors these days, who can portray their actions, feelings or emotions through their words. The director has to find other ways to produce his vision without dialogue, whether its through camera angles and lighting, or costumes and sets.
    I believe that films from this era can be considered good. Every time period has its horrible, horrible films and its pretty spectacular ones, but, I don’t think its fair to judge silent films in general, as bad. I think many have strong plot lines that are clearly seen and understood, something that movies these days are having a hard time accomplishing. Silent film actors have achieved a level of drama and emotion in the film that I believe is not seen as much in recent films.

    An example of a silent film in which the plot of the movie is laid out in an easy to understand way, is A Trip to the Moon. The film has a script to be read with it, but I found it easier to understand WITHOUT the man talking, his pronunciation was very hard to understand. The plot builds on its own and is not too complex.
    The emotion that is put into Birth of a Nation is huge. What the movie is promoting... is horrible, but nonetheless, the opinions expressed are impossible to ignore. They are shown so passionately, all with out dialect.

     Even comedy can be effectively done in silent films! All comedies began with Baby's lunch or The Sprinkler Sprinkled.