Rating: 
Summary: Great film, not a good DVD (Kino edition)
Review: D.W. Griffith's 1919 social drama _Broken Blossoms_ is justly praised. As German filmmakers were discovering expressionism, Griffith found ways to make the cinema express a poetry of his own. In some ways, his innovations in this film were a product of the racism of his time. Since Griffith could not directly portray an interracial love affair between a Chinese man (Griffith regular Richard Barthelmess, done up in "yellowface") and a young English waif (Griffith perennial Lillian Gish), he transferred their feelings into the images themselves. (In a few early scenes you can even see forerunners of Ozu's "pillow shots.") Thus, even though you never actually see the two characters express their love for each other, Griffith makes it perfectly clear that they love each other anyway. For those accustomed to Griffith's blatant race-baiting in _Birth of a Nation_, this film will reveal a more sensitive, compassionate side to the great filmmaker.Although _Broken Blossoms_ is a marvelous film, I'm afraid I can't say the same for the Kino edition DVD. The film print is in fairly good shape for an artifact of its time, but has gone largely unrestored; specks and flickers, scratches, and other major artifacts are far too common for a digital presentation like this. The score Kino provides is solid, and the audio quality is good. Extras are appropriate but very skimpy; an audio commentary would have been welcome, and I'm sure there are plenty of film scholars who could have provided one. If this DVD edition were better, I'd recommend it for purchase. As it stands, I'd advise a rental. Still, if you're a film buff you'll want to buy it anyway, and I don't think you'll be too disappointed with the package.
Rating:
Summary: Great film, not a good DVD (Kino edition)
Review: D.W. Griffith's 1919 social drama _Broken Blossoms_ is justly praised. As German filmmakers were discovering expressionism, Griffith found ways to make the cinema express a poetry of his own. In some ways, his innovations in this film were a product of the racism of his time. Since Griffith could not directly portray an interracial love affair between a Chinese man (Griffith regular Richard Barthelmess, done up in "yellowface") and a young English waif (Griffith perennial Lillian Gish), he transferred their feelings into the images themselves. (In a few early scenes you can even see forerunners of Ozu's "pillow shots.") Thus, even though you never actually see the two characters express their love for each other, Griffith makes it perfectly clear that they love each other anyway. For those accustomed to Griffith's blatant race-baiting in _Birth of a Nation_, this film will reveal a more sensitive, compassionate side to the great filmmaker. Although _Broken Blossoms_ is a marvelous film, I'm afraid I can't say the same for the Kino edition DVD. The film print is in fairly good shape for an artifact of its time, but has gone largely unrestored; specks and flickers, scratches, and other major artifacts are far too common for a digital presentation like this. The score Kino provides is solid, and the audio quality is good. Extras are appropriate but very skimpy; an audio commentary would have been welcome, and I'm sure there are plenty of film scholars who could have provided one. If this DVD edition were better, I'd recommend it for purchase. As it stands, I'd advise a rental. Still, if you're a film buff you'll want to buy it anyway, and I don't think you'll be too disappointed with the package.
Rating: 
Summary: State of the Art, 1919 style
Review: Five stars for this rare opportunity to see how good movies could be in 1919. As for Gish, however, a few weeks ago I saw Marion Davies bring down the house (in 1928's The Patsy) by throwing a sheet over her head, putting on her mopiest, Gish-y face, and running skittishly from room to room. Gish's one note performance here indicates that neither she nor Griffith realized that an abused child is still a child, who will (and for dramatic effect, should) act like one when given half a chance.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful...but jeez, how depressing!
Review: I thought that overall, Broken Blossoms was a very good film. The plot is a little tough to swallow (literally--I got a stomach ache watching some of the scenes), but the end result is marvelous--especially considering how long ago the movie was made. Every emotion is captured very well without any sound(except for the music that fit each scene and mood perfectly).
The one thing that kept bothering me and took away from the film was the fact that the chinese guy (and was that actor even really Chinese?!) walked around all hunched over with this freaky look on his face like a [handicapped] person or something! I mean, I can understand why Lillian Gish's character walks around hunched over, but why did "Chinky" (as Lillian Gish calls him lovingly at one point)? The way the "Yellow Man" carried himself made me dislike him a little bit, and I wasn't as sympathetic towards him...I just didn't understand why he was walking like that!
All that trivial (I'll admit it!) stuff aside, this movie does not leave you for a long time. The ending was very, VERY depressing, but does fit with the story and gives a powerful ending...and, I'll admit I cried a little!
Rating:
Summary: Landmark Film, and So Beautiful Too
Review: I've loved this film since I was a teenager. I've even read the bizarre short story that inspired it. Lillian Gish's character, Lucy, is supposed to be twelve in the story, but D.W. Griffith thought the horror of the abuse Lucy endures would traumatize a child actress, so Griffith changed Lucy's age to sixteen, and cast twenty-two year old Gish, who at five-foot-two, about ninety lbs., and in pancake make-up, manages to pull it off. Child abuse was a new concept when this film was made. The first child abuse case in the US had been prosecuted during Griffith's lifetime (under animal cruelty laws). In order to play to audiences of 1918, when whipping children was acceptable punishment for minor violations, the abuse of Lucy, has to be severe. Griffith doesn't need to look far. According to the original story, Lucy's boxer father isn't permitted to "strike" his "manager or to throw chairs at him," "but to use a dog-whip on a small child is permissible and quite as satisfying." So Lucy's bruised body "crept about Poplar and Limehouse. Always the white face was scarred." (I have seen Griffith's copy of the book, with his marginal notes, as well as a monograph by the author of the particular story, with signed thanks from Griffith and Gish.) There are many ironies in this film. This is the first film treatment of child abuse, and it shows horror, because only vicious horror will convince an audience of 1918 that a child is better off away from her father. The film also shows scenes in an opium den, at a time when this drug is perfectly legal. Our hero is a user, with no intent of quitting. The hero, played beautifully by Richard Barthelmess, is a white man in Asian make-up, because he kisses his under-age girlfriend. That he is an adult in love, and building a shrine to his sixteen year old love, makes no one blink. But to kiss the girl, he can't be a real Chinaman; people have to know that under the make-up, there's not actually any miscegenation. This film couldn't be made today. For this alone, it is fascinating. But beyond its historical fascination, this is a beautiful film. It is a romance unlike any other. It's emotionally wrenching, all told, yet there are some moments that are so touching, and so satisfying, they are worth everything it takes to get ahold of this film. Many people call the film melodramatic, but often silent films are shown at the wrong speed; they're too fast, and this has to do with the way they were filmed opposed to the way sound films are made. If you have a choice among different copies, look at the run time, and pick the longest one. At the right speed, this film is well-paced and poignant. Dramatic, sad, but not melodramatic. This film reaches in a seizes your heart; you'll never forget it.
Rating:
Summary: Very moving
Review: Melodrama was an artform which now seems quaint and old fashioned, but in 1919, it was riveting and at times shocking just as it is now. At a time when D.W. Griffith could do no wrong, especially with his cast. Filmed in London, England during the Spanish Flu epidemic, actress Lillian Gish (the best actress ever, in my opinion) came down with the flu and Griffith refused to go near her without a mask but he was determined to get the film done and during the filming of the scene where the father (Donald Crisp) was to kill off Lillian, she decided since she was playing a young girl that she would play it that way so she kicked and screamed and acted as if she were to be in sheer terror. In the studio at the time was a writer from Variety who had just ate a large breakfast and he wanted to see how the filming was coming, the writer saw Lillian kicking and screaming and the father trying to murder her...... he then proceeded to go outside and lose his breakfast. That is only a piece of how emotional the film is and what makes it a masterpiece, now given that it only packs have the kick of Way Down East and a fourth of the kick of Orphans of the Storm (best film ever), and why it makes it just as riveting today as it was 81 years ago.. hardto believe. I must also mention Richard Barthelmess who is a Chinese man who falls in love with Lillian gives a stellar performance throughout the movie. Highly recommended for any silent fan, but definately remember to give D.W. Griffith's other films a good shot, they are good too. Very moving.....
Rating:
Summary: Wears better today than most Griffith films
Review: Okay, everyone's discussed the scene where Miss Gish is terrorized by her father with an axe, so I'll leave that alone, but there's a lot else to recommend about this film. Despite the use of White actors to play Asians, this is a very strong anti-racist film for it's day and it's hard to believe that the same man who brought you "Birth of a Nation" brought you this.
The story is wrenching from beginning to end. Almost no comedy appears at all, but yet it's very watchable. Some interesting scenes that are WAY ahead of their time compare the gentle Chinese man with the Whites he interacts with. For example, our hero goes to England to "teach them the peaceful ways of Buddha." While in the slums of Enngland, our man is met by missionaries who tell him that they're "going to China to convert the heathen." The irony is added when the missionaries give our unnamed hero a book entitled "HELL." Griffith doesn't expound upon the subtle joke, but it's point is made to the audence, our man is ALREADY in hell while the missionaries are off to heaven. Another set of poignant scenes involves Miss Gish's "pathetic attempts to smile in a world that gives her little reason to do so." This must be seen to be understood. This isn't likely to be at your video store, but it should be in your local publiuc library. By all means, get it.
Rating:
Summary: Dreamlike and Intense
Review: Shorn of the "epic" effects of Birth of a Nation and Intolerance, Broken Blossoms is easily Griffith's finest achievement in film-making on an intimate scale. Dream-like in cinematography and ferocious in intensity, the film revolves around Gish's powerful performance of a battered slum child who finds sanctuary under the protection of a disillusioned Chinese shop-keeper. Mixing moments of innocent bliss and sheer terror, this languid yet completely unnerving film is as delicate and subtle as its title implies.
Rating:
Summary: really good
Review: This is a very good movie, although really heartbreaking. Gish's sensitive portrayal of an abused teen forces the veiwer to feel her sorrow, desperation, and even terror. A must-see for fans of old movies. One complaint I have, though, is the reddish tinting of the film...rather than enhancing the veiwing experience, I felt the tinting detracted from it. Better the movie be left in simple B&W.
Rating:
Summary: Best Silent Movie Ever
Review: This is simply wonderful. The subject matter is very dark of course, about a young child abused by her Father, but the acting is wonderful, and captivating. I wish more silents were this appealing.
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