Unforgettable silent films

Cinema is one of the most persuasive art forms. As a source of popular entertainment, its audience comes from diverse walks of life. It reflects the culture, aspirations and beliefs of people and helps them shape their consciousness. Films evolved from silent movies to talkies; black and white to color.

Long before we were seduced by the glitz and magic of the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Shrek 3, Spiderman 3 and top-grossing films like Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter, New Line Cinema’s The Lord of the Rings, and 20th Century Fox’s Star Wars, there were the silent movies.

 Silent films had no accompanying, synchronized recorded sound or spoken dialogue. Silent films featured live music such as an actor singing with a pianist behind the screen. Music was considered essential since it gave the audience vital emotional cues of what they were watching. Rather than leaving the audience in silence, theater owners hired a pianist, organist, or an orchestra to play music suitable to the mood of the film. Silent film actors also emphasized body language and facial expression so audiences could better understand what they were portraying on screen. Here are some remarkable silent films shown here and abroad:

Jose Nepomuceno, the Father of Philippine Movies, directed Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden) starring Honorata “Atang” dela Rama in 1919. The movie was a version of the famous sarswela of Hermogenes Ilagan and Leon Ignacio. Since sound was not yet incorporated into the movies that time, the actress sang the songs live on stage. Atang stood behind the screen to sing the theme song Nabasag ang Banga (The Clay Pot Broke) with the accompaniment of a violinist, a trumpet player, and a pianist every screening. The film which was shot in two parts and shown a month apart was about a barrio maiden who was forced by her parents to marry a rich old man. She outwitted the old man and eloped with her boyfriend, a law student.

Vicente Salumbides, a contemporary of Jose Nepomuceno, returned from Hollywood and directed Miracles of Love in 1926 starring Hermogenes Ilagan, Dimples Cooper and himself. Nepomuceno was the cameraman and labman of the film. The film was about a doctor who falls in love with a woman he saw in a magazine. To be near the woman he loves, the man hides his identity and becomes a servant of her family. The woman who is forced to marry a rich old man confides her problems to him. The servant-doctor then reveals his love. They decide to elope and in the end her family approves after they found out his true identity.

The Birth of a Nation is one of the most influential and controversial films in American cinema. Set during the American Civil War and directed by D.W. Griffith in 1915, it is valuable in film history for its innovative technical accomplishments and controversial promotion of white supremacism and glorification of the Ku Klux Klan. Birth of A Nation is based on The Clansman, a novel and play that heroically portrays the Ku Klux Klan. After the war, Ben Cameron, called the “Little Colonel,” devises a plan to reverse the perceived powerlessness of Southern whites by forming the Ku Klux Klan after seeing white children pretend to be ghosts to scare off black children. In the end, the Klan becomes powerful and disenfranchises black voters in an election.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari) is a 1920 silent film directed by Robert Wiene. It is one of the most famous and artistically-acclaimed German Expressionist films. The film is about a deranged Doctor Caligari, his somnambulist Cesare Conrad Veidt and their connection to a series of murders in German mountain village that coincides with the arrival of a carnival run by Dr. Caligari. The narrator is Francis Friedrich Feher, who pursues Dr. Caligari after his friend Alan (Hans Heinrich Von Twardowski) was killed and his girlfriend Jane was abducted.

The twist in the end reveals that Francis’ story is actually his fantasy. Francis is the real patient in the asylum and his doctor is Caligari. Francis is the madman who wears a straight jacket at the end of the film.

The Battleship Potemkin, also called The Battleship Potyomkin, is a 1925 silent film directed by Sergei Eisenstein. It shows a glorified version of the Battleship Potemkin uprising which happened in when the crew of a Russian battleship revolted against their tyrant officers during the Tsarist regime. Potemkin is called one of the most influential films of all time. The film is composed of five episodes but the most famous scene is the massacre of civilians on the Odessa Steps.

Czarist soldiers unexpectedly march down the Odessa steps in a rhythmic, machine-like fashion, killing the people waiting for The Potemkin in the harbor. Towards the end of the sequence, the soldiers shoot a mother pushing a baby carriage. The mother falls to the ground and as she dies she accidentally kicks the carriage away. It rolls down the steps alongside the frightened crowd.

Melanj on Ice repeat

National V Entertainment, the US-based production company which specializes in world-class ice shows like Legends on Ice and Ice Fusion, will do a repeat of the highly-successful Melanj on Ice this December.

 Juno Justiniano, a Filipina, is the moving force behind the company. National V Entertainment boasts of its high-ranking audiences that include heads of states and the royal family in Great Britain, Europe, and Japan. Melanj on Ice, staged last February, was successful because of the support of Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, Smart, P & G, Nestlé (Corporate), SMC, Ming’s Pei Pa Koa Candy, National V Entertainment, Jadi Productions, Bayview Park Hotel, Philippine Sports Commission, Private Eyes Entertainment Productions, SM International Skating Rink, Philippine Skating Union, Met Tathione, Sportschat, Twinkelita, 105.1 Crossover, Energy FM, YES FM 101.1, 90.7 Love Radio, DZRH 666 kHz Iskor Ko ‘To, The Scene Around, JO’s 2nd Avenue, Working Dream Events Specialist, ClawDaddy Restaurant, Dental First, Rommel Guerra Photography, ASB Condotels, My Water Tang and Danilyn’s Enterprises, Inc.