 |
|
| Movies Forum Index » Silent Movies Forum » "Aladdin And The Wonderful Lamp" (1917) By Chester &... |
|
Page 1 of 1 |
|
| Author |
Message |
| Ferdinand Von Galitzien... |
 Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:37 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
The common people have always liked old stories about fantastic places
where the most bizarre events can happen, the weirder, the better.
Such unfortunates especially enjoy those tales that involve incredible
hidden treasures or the chance to be a millionaire instantly and
without effort; such fantasies provide a little hope to their
miserable lives.
Well, logically, aristocrats are not very fond of those stories
overall because they have always enjoyed riches and privileges so
they are not much impressed by classic literature such as “Aladdin
And The Wonderful Lamp”, an oeuvre that was adapted for the screen by
the duo of Herr Chester und Sidney Franklin in the silent year of
1917.
The film captures and enhances the spirit of the literary text,
showing wonderful and luxurious décors and customs besides careful and
fascinating special effects, striking for an early silent film
production. It illustrates the fascination that the East always had
for Westerners and that means a lot of clichés, natürlich!.
The film has a curious aspect; having in mind that this is a classic
story that can be enjoyed by elders and youngsters, the principal
characters of the film were played by children, those dangerous people
that fortunately soften their cruel attitudes once they grow up. This
gives the film a special charm and originality.
Those small performers are supported by adult actors but the little
over actors play their roles quite well, focusing their efforts on
exaggerating attitudes, feelings and behaviours that suit the
exotic, fantastic and typical Eastern atmosphere of the film. Of
course the original literary text is abridged ( if the directors
hadn’t done that and, having in mind that the story of Aladdin is
included in the literary masterpiece “Thousand And One Arabian
Nights”, well, the film would have had an excessive running time )
but the essence and the magic of the original story are there in this
“mini” version of the tale.
In spite of the fact that aristocrats see the film with indifference
due to already having luxury and excess in their Schloss ( in the
aristocratic case, the genie of the lamp would be the one that would
have to ask for wishes… ) or because the slaves ( servants nowadays )
do whatever their masters ask without complaint, the film can still be
enjoyed very much by people of any age, a beautiful film full of
magical atmosphere and adventure in what is a naïve, skilful, concise
and excellent adaptation of a classic text of the world literature.
And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because
this German Count must ask the genie of the lamp to do the Schloss
housework.
Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien
http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/ |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT - 5 Hours
The time now is Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:55 am
|
|