Review of Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (1919) by Dan K — 18 Jul 2014

Narrator: [about the prizefighter] "Above all, Battling hates those not born in the same great country as himself." For a film without any audible spoken dialogue, Lillian Gish gives one of the best performances from an actress I've ever seen.

Her eyes were so expressive that she didn't need to utter a single word in order to "speak" to her audience--- you could really feel her terror, sorrow and a whole range of other emotions expressed beautifully through her eyes alone.

Her face was like one of those Victorian porcelain dolls that it almost makes you want to believe she was indeed as young and as innocent as the character she portrays in the film. The story (blatant stereotypes, racism and sexism aside) was truly interesting and tragically ironic.

It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch Cheng Huan's (a.k.a. the "Yellow Man" or "Chink") harsh environment corrupt the once passive and optimistic disciple of Buddha's peaceful teachings into an opium addicted, depressed, lovelorn fool.

Overall, this film was so compelling work of art that it surpasses some more modern "talkies" in both the quality of lead actors' ability to move and connect with their audience and relay a truly gripping story.