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Movies Forum Index » Silent Movies Forum » "The White Sister" (1923) By Henry King
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Message |
| Ferdinand Von Galitzien |
 Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:46 am |
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Guest
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"The White Sister", a film directed by Herr Henry King in the silent
year of 1923, depicts the unfortunate fate of its heroine, an
aristocrat and rich Italian girl ( a strange fact this because to be
rich and an aristocrat are not synonymous in Germany… ). Because the
main character of the film, Dame Angela Chiaromonte ( Dame Lillian
Gish
) suffers what fate has in store for her (and believe it or not, it is
not to attend decadent soirées) this German count will relate the sad
tale right now…
Dame Angela is in love with the young, handsome captain Herr Giovanni
Severini ( Herr Ronald Colman ). They are engaged and want to seal
their love pretty soon but Dame Chiaromonte's ill fate doesn't permit
such happiness and delivers the first blow when Dame Chiaromonte's
father dies while riding with his hounds. This is not a serious
problem
in itself, you know: your rich father dies unexpectedly and in that
same moment you inherit an enormous fortune. That's the usual
proceedings in Deutschland… but the problem is that Dame Chiaromonte
has an elder and evil stepsister ( natürlich! ), Marchesa de Mola (
Dame Gail Kane ). She has plenty of malicious intentions and drives
our
heroine from her estate and takes away her inheritance, having
secretly
burned her father's will.
Penniless, Dame Chiaromonte has to bear the further indignity of
having
her fiancée's father decide to cancel the marriage and to make things
worse her fiancée is assigned to a distant land in where he will be
attacked by natives and declared officially dead..... So, besides
penniless, Dame Chiaromonte is also loveless!. Desperate, she decides
to become a nun ( a desperate decision, certainly ), devoting herself
to people even worse off than herself( selfish solace ). Then, many
years later, Herr Giovanni appears; he find out that his fiancée has
become a pious nun so he abandons any lascivious feelings for her.
Ah!... you can't find any comfort, any hope in such miserable love
story and even Dame Chiaromonte devoted and pious life doesn't have
any
reward from her master as the German saying "to drown one's sorrows"
doesn't work here because Gott's wrath, in the form of a volcanic
eruption ( Vesuvius namely ) causes a flood, drowning Herr Giovanni
while he was helping to save the lives of the poor people who lived
under Vesuvius.
"The White Sister" it is one of those classic "larger than life" film
stories successfully directed by Herr King ( excellent pacing and film
narration makes its 140 minutes seem shorter ). It's a good example of
those powerful oeuvres full of conservative and high values and
principles of the old epochs ( self-sacrifice, strong convictions,
religious devotion, chastity ) that includes beautiful scenery, art
direction and devoted, solid and convincing performances by Dame
Lillian Gish ( a candid heroine ) and Herr Ronald Colman ( a
long-suffering man in love ),It makes for a great film although one
dated in these modern times in which such strong convictions and
decisions, aren't acceptable motivations in pseudo-realistic terms but
seem more like sci-fi to contemporary audiences.
And now if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because
this German count must sacrifice himself by going to another decadent
soirée.
Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien
http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/ |
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| Daniela C |
| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 1:54 am |
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Guest
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"Ferdinand Von Galitzien" <FerdinandVonGalitzien@gmail.com> schrieb im
Newsbeitrag
news:dc553b47-3dd0-467f-9ba7-f5230873ebc2@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
"The White Sister", a film directed by Herr Henry King in the silent
year of 1923, depicts the unfortunate fate of its heroine, an
aristocrat and rich Italian girl ( a strange fact this because to be
rich and an aristocrat are not synonymous in Germany… ). Because the
main character of the film, Dame Angela Chiaromonte ( Dame Lillian
Gish
) suffers what fate has in store for her (and believe it or not, it is
not to attend decadent soirées) this German count will relate the sad
tale right now…
Dame Angela is in love with the young, handsome captain Herr Giovanni
Severini ( Herr Ronald Colman ). They are engaged and want to seal
their love pretty soon but Dame Chiaromonte's ill fate doesn't permit
such happiness and delivers the first blow when Dame Chiaromonte's
father dies while riding with his hounds. This is not a serious
problem
in itself, you know: your rich father dies unexpectedly and in that
same moment you inherit an enormous fortune. That's the usual
proceedings in Deutschland… but the problem is that Dame Chiaromonte
has an elder and evil stepsister ( natürlich! ), Marchesa de Mola (
Dame Gail Kane ). She has plenty of malicious intentions and drives
our
heroine from her estate and takes away her inheritance, having
secretly
burned her father's will.
Penniless, Dame Chiaromonte has to bear the further indignity of
having
her fiancée's father decide to cancel the marriage and to make things
worse her fiancée is assigned to a distant land in where he will be
attacked by natives and declared officially dead..... So, besides
penniless, Dame Chiaromonte is also loveless!. Desperate, she decides
to become a nun ( a desperate decision, certainly ), devoting herself
to people even worse off than herself( selfish solace ). Then, many
years later, Herr Giovanni appears; he find out that his fiancée has
become a pious nun so he abandons any lascivious feelings for her.
Ah!... you can't find any comfort, any hope in such miserable love
story and even Dame Chiaromonte devoted and pious life doesn't have
any
reward from her master as the German saying "to drown one's sorrows"
doesn't work here because Gott's wrath, in the form of a volcanic
eruption ( Vesuvius namely ) causes a flood, drowning Herr Giovanni
while he was helping to save the lives of the poor people who lived
under Vesuvius.
"The White Sister" it is one of those classic "larger than life" film
stories successfully directed by Herr King ( excellent pacing and film
narration makes its 140 minutes seem shorter ). It's a good example of
those powerful oeuvres full of conservative and high values and
principles of the old epochs ( self-sacrifice, strong convictions,
religious devotion, chastity ) that includes beautiful scenery, art
direction and devoted, solid and convincing performances by Dame
Lillian Gish ( a candid heroine ) and Herr Ronald Colman ( a
long-suffering man in love ),It makes for a great film although one
dated in these modern times in which such strong convictions and
decisions, aren't acceptable motivations in pseudo-realistic terms but
seem more like sci-fi to contemporary audiences.
And now if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because
this German count must sacrifice himself by going to another decadent
soirée.
Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien
http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/
Mein lieber Herr Graf ,
I fully agree with you that this is a marvellous movie, this actually being
my Lieblingsfilm. Mr Colman's character is called Giovanni Severi though and
of course his feelings for Angela aren't that easily surpressed as you put
it, there are some highly emotional scenes,first with the bishop and a
final confrontation with Angela herself. On the other hand Angela's feelings
are also riven after meeting Giovanni again, whom she had supposed dead for
more than two years, as can be seen in the staircase scene.
As for the outdated values presented in this movie, I strongly feel that
Angela's motivations aren't only religious but they may also be representing
an act of emancipation and self awareness ( especially in her final
confrontation with Giovanni)- something I personally feel when watching this
movie is also that Angela's decision to remain being a nun reflects
decisions to be taken by an artist,i e for example to be genuine or to
devote your life to your art, things that I hope aren't outdated today and
maybe something that Lillian Gish also felt when she changed the novel's
original happy ending.
Vielen Dank für Ihre Kritik, Herr Graf,
Daniela Cox, http://www.giovanni-severi.com/ |
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