Review of Within Our Gates (1920) by Rani V — 02 Jan 2009

This movie was just really good and really interesting. There is just so much going on. I mean of course it is interesting historically and sociologically, and the more you contextualize it and place it historically the more interesting it really becomes.

There are a number of scenes that really just stop you in your tracks. The scene in "old Ned's" church and one of the last scenes that cuts back and forth between the lynching of the heroines family and her being attacked are two that really stood out.

It is hard to follow at times and some loose ends that aren't fully resolved but I am not sure if some of that wasn't because parts of the print was lost. Either way I didn't really mind, I still found myself being drawn in completely.

In a way its more like short vignettes hung on a basic plot to drive the movie forward and if you view it with that in mind the holes in the story become really unimportant.