Item #: 13133DV Category: SILENT Format: DVD MPAA Rating: U

Woolly Rating: 6/10 (28 votes)

MEMBER COMMENTS ON THIS VIDEO

jd	Jul 28, 2004 @ 17:25:40

<[:-} this is a little story about jacques and jacqueline
the books are full of all the later films influenced by this serial. i'd like to add anti-hero epics like "the saint." even the hero resorts to poisoning, kidnapping, and torture to bring about justice. there's a lot of kidnapping and drowning going on, and some shooting and razor work. though far from marxist, "judex" does have a strongly anti-capitalist sense of social justice. "judex" has a "shadow" type black costume and suitable eye makeup. this tinted 1917 silent uses blue for darkness and green (? i'm type 2 colorblind) for light. its fun when they flip a light switch and the tint instantly changes. less subtly, red is used for scenes associated with "la chateau rouge." there's some sci-fi bits that were prescient but seem comical now, such as the "electric mirror" that automatically follows a prisoner. modern for their time touches such as an inboard motorboat might escape the casual viewer. odd hooks keep the viewer's interest. one time, the day is saved by "the fantastic dog pack." "the licorice kid," a street child about 6 years old, smokes. it seems like everyone has a tiny pocket revolver, but it could be the same two that keep changing hands. comic relief is provided by the durante nosed detective cocantin (marcel levesque). levesque shows a flair for physical comedy, but otherwise the acting is pretty bland, with the shining exception of musidora (irma vep from ˇ§les vampiresˇ¨), who plays "diana monti." in a sign of changing culture, she exudes a gentle sexuality and humorous charm even though she is supposed to be "forever a delilah!" of all the parade of miscreants in this film, she is the only one who is unredeemably evil. the men are all simply mislead by greed, obsession with revenge, or, most dangerous of all, the spell of "this depraved woman." its telling that the only time her manner would seem even remotely threatening to the modern american is when she opens a straight razor and passes it to one of her henchmen. the misogyny associated with her character is mitigated somewhat late in the game with the introduction of "miss daisy torp" "the water goddess" (lily deligny). this circus performer fiancee of cocantin saves the day by swimming out deep into a choppy harbor to foil the villains. the very dangerous stunt work is performed for real by deligny, including the clumsy, faltering climb up a rope onto the ship. where a modern stunt woman would make it seem easy, the real difficulty of the task is made clear here. cocantin, who can't swim, is left to fidget nervously and watch. in a bit of telling symbolism, he puts on her hat to keep warm in the cold, damp wind.

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