directed by: d.w. griffith
lists: ebert's great movies
genres: epic, history, silent, romance
traces to: la strada, brokeback mountain
the story is of a buddhist monk who travels to london and through coincidence, saves a poor waifish woman from the clutches of an abusive man. watch the opening credits in the clip above. the film is subtitled 'or: the yellow man and the girl' which is interesting for a few reasons: 1) this was griffith's next attempt to right the racially prejudiced wrongs committed in 'birth of a nation.' 2) that this was considered 'progressive' speaks volumes about the time in which it was screened. 3) the 'yellow man' is played by white actor richard barthelmess. this film is possibly the beginning of the desexualization of asian men - even the title suggests that both the lead characters are cut from the same cloth - poor, abused, suffering, sexless. like fixed kittens in a box on the side of the road.
when i watched 'broken blossoms,' i hadn't yet seen many silent films - really only 'birth of a nation' and 'metropolis.' 'broken blossoms' is incredibly difficult to appreciate, especially for viewers who aren't accustomed to the conventions of silent film, but also because of the shockingly outdated idea of what yes, it contains the first interracial 'romance' in film history, but it also couches it in a jarringly condescending treatment. for the time, this was groundbreaking - sort of like the way the gay character of 'melrose place' was groundbreaking; he got to exist, but never got close to kissing anyone.
ebert mentions the many parallels between this film and fellini's early masterpiece, 'la strada,' which is essentially a retelling of the plot, minus the asian aspect. 'la strada' spends more time focusing on the abusive relationship between the downtrodden eager-to-please woman and the overbearing, demanding alpha male.
i would compare this film to 'brokeback mountain,' which seems to have sent parallel shock waves of tolerance through the world of cinema, nearly 100 years apart. how will the audience of the year 3019 process these films?
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