1/22 Film Reviews
In today’s class we watched two silent films; Safety Last and Modern Times. At first I was skeptical about watching two silent films and being engaged the entire time. However, both films kept my attention and were highly entertaining. Safety Last was directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor. Hal Roach was its’ producer. The immediate cast consisted of a few performers; Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young, and Westcott Clarke. Throughout this film I maintained both a sense of anxiety as well as humor. There were many parts that I couldn’t help laughing at (when he was attacked by birds and when he was trying to come in late to work). However, there were also many parts that caused me to feel anxious and left my palms sweaty. Throughout the entire film I was anxious about the main character lying about his job to his fiancée and I was also very nervous when he climbed the building and kept getting faced with obstacles along the way. The film left me with a feeling of relief that he had successfully climbed to the top of the building. However, I was also left a little frustrated that his fiancée was still clueless about his job position and money situation. The city had a definite impact on the style of this film. To me, the style seemed to be the style in the city. There was hustle and bustle, people were dressed very well, and the emphasis on ambition all reflects the style of a city. The style was consistent throughout the film. The theme in this film seems to be the ambition for success. The director seemed to be trying to tell the audience not to lie about your job, but also to work really hard for your positions in life. For the most part I did believe what was happening on the screen. In my opinion, some things were overexagerated. However, this was done successfully and in a way that while I was watching the film I did