Review of Michael (1924) by James C — 20 Oct 2007

Intense chamber piece about a decadent old artist who has his heart broken by his rather feckless model & adopted son. Everyone in the film is hampered by frustrated or unfulfilled love, and the crucifixes which often appear in frame suggest that this is the cross each has to bear.

All of it takes place in sumptuous interior settings full of paintings, sculptures and lavish furnishings, which may comment at times on the action and the characters but it's an opulence which offers no one any comfort when love drags them into the most intense suffering.