Country: U.S.A.
Genre(s): Drama / Romance
Director: D.W.
Griffith
Cast: Lillian Gish
/ Richard Barthelmess / Donald Crisp
Plot
In London, Chinese immigrant Cheng
meets and falls for Lucy Burrows, an impoverished white girl who has suffered
repeated abuse at the hands of her prizefighting father. When Lucy escapes, she finds refuge in the
room above Cheng’s shop.
What I Liked
Well, in the spirit
of my past reviews, I suppose I’ll have to type something here, despite my reserves about doing so. The movie had some boxing in it. So there’s that. I also have to admit Richard Barthelmess
delivered a thoughtful, subtle acting performance as Cheng, even if the fact
that casting white men to play stereotyped Chinese men was abysmally
racist. I also suppose I should note
that, for a 1919 film, it was commendably brave of director D.W. Griffith to make a Chinese
character the male romantic lead in an era so xenophobic, especially as Griffith had previously directed one of the most notoriously racist films of all time,
“Birth of a Nation.”
What I Didn’t Like
Let me put it this way. If you look at my last entry, it's been months since it was posted. That's because it really took me that long to convince myself to finish watching this 90 minute bore.
Much has been made of
the fact that this was the most reserved and downbeat film from Griffith, the
first great epic film director. The
problem is, by stripping the film of the historic setting of “Birth of a Nation”
and the grand sets of “Intolerance,” Griffith essentially robbed the film of
any aesthetic value that would make it appeal for someone watching the movie a
century into the future. The rest is all
histrionic melodrama from lead actress Lillian Gish, appalling stereotypes of
Chinese people, and goofy faces from the villain, all piled up on a plot that’s
far too bare-bones to be interesting today.
All that remains is
its historic value as a touchstone in the development of the Hollywood filmmaking
style (and also its place as the first film produced by United Artists). The language of motion picture storytelling
was still in its infancy in 1919 and this film helped push the art forward a
few steps, but that fact doesn’t make it any more bearable to watch today.
Most Memorable Scene
The most famous scene
is that of Lillian Gish’s spastic writhing and cringing as she hides from her
abusive father in a closet. Apparently
her performance was so convincing in that time that it frightened even Griffith
himself. The truth is that this scene is
far too melodramatic to hold up today.
For me, the best moment was of course the boxing match, which plays out
shortly before the aforementioned confrontation. The fighting is laughably amateurish but if
you’ve ever seen motion picture footage of prizefights from the late nineteenth
century and early twentieth century you’ll find the boxing match in “Broken
Blossoms” actually looks fairly authentic, even if it is choreographed. More importantly, it represents the only
sustained action in a film that otherwise feels interminable.
My Rating: 1.5 out of 5
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