Quote:
In short, this film tells in quasi-mythic terms the struggle of a father with his son. The father is a simple man, who earns his living on the sea. His wife brings two children into the world: the first a saintly daughter, and the second a boy, who has nothing but disrespect for the humble lifestyle of his parents, and who longs for nothing more than to booze and carouse in the taverns of the local town.

In story terms, the film could hardly be more timeless and classic. However, L’Herbier’s sophistication in telling the story rivals the greatest of his contemporary peers. The understanding of light and shadow, the editing, the framing/masking of shots, the use of tints, images edited into the frames of the film, all kinds of things applied to the lens to create effect and atmosphere. And, on top of that, the great use of authentic locales, and especially the presence of the violent sea in so many scenes. And, even down to the way that L’Herbier finds ways to integrate the titles of the film into the very flow of the images.

I have tried to see a lot of what is available in terms of the early silent cinema, and up until 1920, I can only really think of a handful of other films that are as impressive in cinematic terms as this one. The stills below should go some distance in illustrating the visual richness of this film.

	
L'Homme du large Web-dl 1080.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 25 min
Size: 	5.25 GiB
Video
Codec: 	h264
Resolution: 	1440x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	8 551 kb/s
BPP: 	0.220
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch E-AC-3 @ 224 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/6BF3DA93B9353D9/L’Homme_du_large_Web-dl_1080.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/CC5472E600E9EF0/L’Homme_du_large_Web-dl_1080.srt

Language(s):Silent, French intertitles
Subtitles:English

The post Marcel L’Herbier – L’homme du large AKA Man of the Sea (1920) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Another amazing circus film gets an Alloy Orchestra score. Until its recent restoration by Lobster Films in France, Gallery of Monsters was virtually unknown and unseen. Despite the film’s title, it’s not a horror film. It’s an exciting and sometimes tender love story that follows the lives of circus folk, and particularly the loving relationship of Riquet and his wife, Ralda. The “monsters,” as the intertitles explain, are the evil circus owner and the lion tamer, whose unwanted advances are refused by the beautiful dancer, Ralda. The cast of characters are the staples of a circus side show – a giant, a little person, a bearded lady, a woman with only half a body, and others – who are sympathetically depicted as a supportive family, and come to the aid of the couple. Excellent cinematography, surreal costumes, and a terrifying lion attack bring this intriguing story to life.

2.77GB | 1h 33m | 1440×1080 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/16F49A2EA0DC49A/La.galerie.des.monstres.1924.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-KG.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/4E2A66FBB72E547/La.galerie.des.monstres.1924.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-KG.srt

Language(s):French intertitles
Subtitles:English

The post Jaque Catelain – La galerie des monstres AKA Gallery of Monsters (1924) first appeared on Cinema of the World.