Sunday, September 5, 2021

Review of Cabiria (1914) - Veronica Castille

Though dreading having to see this film due to its silent, black & white nature, I was pleasantly surprised that I found myself genuinely enjoying watching it. The technical elements and directorial choices were impressive even for today; I especially liked how overlaying shots were incorporated to pull off some neat tricks and used to give off the illusion of smoke, changes in scenery (volcano erupting, desert pyramids, etc.), and the portrayal of divine interventions and characters’ dreams/flashbacks in order to make them visible to the audience. Zooming in the camera on a select few scenes was also an appreciated component that improved the storytelling and emphasis on an important plotline. The incorporation of blackface and propaganda within the storyline account for most of the film’s flaws, but overall it’s a great piece of film history that I would recommend and even watch again to try and catch aspects I missed the first time around.
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1 comment:

  1. DrKSeptember 9, 2021 at 4:34 PM

    Great that you appreciate Segundo De Chomon's special and practical effect work. "Cabiria's" director, Givanni Pastrone, lured him from Spain to Italy so his film could benefit from De Chomon's art. Some of the other tricks, like the superimposed film of the Moloch in Sophonisba's dream or the angelic choir flying around the loving couple Cabiria and Fulvio in the last scene are trick effects that you can already find in French filmmaker Georges Melies' work 10 or 15 years earlier, but that makes them no less impressive.

    I'm also glad that you mention the film's more problematic aspects as well. That's exactly what a fair review should do. You could also have added the stereotypical depiction of most female characters. Sophonisba is depicted as a typical mankiller, even if she redeems herself at the end by helping the lovers find each other. The little Cabiria, as you all noticed, is lugged around like a sack of potatoes for most of the first half, and in the second half, she never rises above the stereotype of the helpless Damsel in Distress.

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Hercules Website - Veronica Castille

  https://vlcastille.wixsite.com/hercules

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