I've been on a Silent-Era bender lately. As I at this moment simply can't watch any more voiceless films - I'll just drop my silent-era mega-post here for now. So, yeah, only silent films.
I've pretty much loved every Fritz Lang film I've seen. Even commonly reviled stuff like the two Indian Tomb movies I through were splendidly crafted adventure yarns. That said... I honestly just couldn't get into Dr. Mabuse - The Gambler. I didn't hate it -- it was a good film, but it just didn't grip me like his other flicks did. The essential issue was simply the pacing. It was to overlong and languid, even for the silent era. Some of the expressionist imagery and the nearly magical talents of Dr. Mabuse definitely are the peaks of the movie. But they where to scattered to make a difference in the end (It's basically Cabiria-syndrome only worse).
I also watched Douglas Fairbanks Robin Hood. Honestly, I probably think it better than the Errol Flynn one. The Flynn one is definitely superior in its iconic first third, but it definitely flatlines a bit after that. The Fairbanks version keeps a high-quality throughout. I think the deciding factor is just the grandness of the set-design, and the beautiful shot-composition that follows alongside it. It kinda felt like a King Vidor film in this respect, as if the grandness of the surroundings become a character in-and-of-itself. The narrative is rather strange though, eschewing the traditional Robin Hood plotline. Fairbanks doesn't even become Hood until half-way in!
I also saw Fairbanks The Mask of Zorro. It was pretty fun, nowhere near Robin Hood obviously. It's hispanic iconography serves it well, as it's abundance of detail and sharp style appears rather striking on the silent screen. Fairbanks animated take on Zorro is especially fun -- and the ending where his secret identity is smashed ends the film at a great climax.
Faust was absolutely dream-inspiringly awesome. Talk about sinking you into another world! Never have I seen devils and angels be personified so strikingly before. The expressionistic set-design and style was perfect for making this come to life -- making the real world fuse seamlessly with the metaphysical, heaven-and-hell mythology that the movie is based upon. In this way it reminds me a bit of Metropolis, which also achieved perfection in its distinct world-building. And the human story about Faust and the woman he loves is very engaging too. I'd rank Faust right up there with Nosferatu, and truth be told, Faust is much more consistent since Nosferatu gets pretty uneven once the vampire sets foot in Deutschland. (F.W Murnau's earlier film The Haunted Castle was really bad though, a mystery film with a boring mystery, with only one dream-scene horror-moment to enliven the movie).
I rewatched Dr Caligari. Honestly, as far as Robert Weine's filmography goes, Genuine > Caligari. Yes Caligari is groundbreaking and the height of artsyness and all that, but Genuine's story is just more intresting and its expressionistic eroticism more impactful. Also, if you love expressionist mindfuckery, then you can't do better than From Morn to Midnight by Georg Kaiser, released the same year as these two films. It's expressionism cranked up to eleven.
And yes, I rewatched Caligari just to figure out if I like Genuine more!
I saw a bunch of other silent films. Mostly westerns and Italian historical epics. John Fords Straight Shooting had some really cool visuals during the gunfighting -- that would herald his later films like Stagecoach. Hell Hinges was the surprising gem though. It's about an amoral gunfighter that arrives to a seedy town, where the only decent community is a small congregation living amidst all the debauchery. William Hart gives an great, physical performance with a lot of magnetism to it. The action is very well done -- with the whole city being burned down. And lastly the religious conversion that the main character undergoes is communicated through some great visuals that really makes it feel like an existential, emotional conversion rather than a simple plotpoint.
