Review of Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (1919) by Jonathan P — 02 Jul 2010

A very pretty and simple film for a powerful story about finding love after an abusive relationship. It was difficult to believe that Gish is a child here, apparently around 15, but she is an incredible enough actress that I could suspend my disbelief. I enjoyed this film on a conceptual level more than Griffith's "Birth of a Nation" and "Intolerance". With this smaller scale film he is less prone to drag the setup scenes on for too long. Despite its shorter length to the aforementioned films, I still felt like the story moved at a leisurely pace.

Quite honestly, romantic scenes I don't get as much out of without sound. Without hearing the couple's voice the emotional connection to them is hard for me. Of all the silent films I've seen, this one is hurt the most by the fact that I was exposed to "talkies" for over 20 years before I ever saw a silent film. My expectations are simply different a 1919 viewer. I give the film its high marks for a great story, as well as the wonderful use of tinting to denote the change in mood and environment. Lilian Gish is excellent, as usual, as well as Cheng (Richard Barthelmess).