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I adore films. All of those art rumbles set me to thinking, what would be a good time period which would have two distinctive country-movements that you could set against eachother? Perhaps you could set italian neo-realism against hollywood cinema at the same time, but that'd be kind of weird.
However, germany versus russia in the silent age is pretty much perfect.
In germany, you have the advancing art of melodrama, in the early stages sexploitation flicks, then epic large fantasies and expressionism and all sorts of wonderfully, decadently large films because of the incredibly depressed deutschmark. And this is right from 1920.
In the USSR, on the other hand, film production didn't start until around 23 or 24, but when it did, boy howdy!
So I'm going to advance two artists from the period - on the russian side we have lev kuleshov, who was instrumental in editing theory. I have seen two of his films: by the law and the extraordinary adventures of mr. west in the land of the bolsheviks, both of them brilliant.
On the other hand, let us consider the case of mr. G.W. Pabst, who produced the incredibly moving The Love Of Jeanne Ney, and the similarly well-executed (yet ultimately less satisfying) Pandora's Box.
Although both are worthy of doffing one's hat to, and certainly far superior to any rubbish we have nowadays, who's technique reigns supreme? And what about the other silent masters? Personally I'll take Kuleshov over Pabst, but just barely (I find By the Law to be one of the finest silent dramas ever, right up there with the Passion of Joan of Arc).
However, germany versus russia in the silent age is pretty much perfect.
In germany, you have the advancing art of melodrama, in the early stages sexploitation flicks, then epic large fantasies and expressionism and all sorts of wonderfully, decadently large films because of the incredibly depressed deutschmark. And this is right from 1920.
In the USSR, on the other hand, film production didn't start until around 23 or 24, but when it did, boy howdy!
So I'm going to advance two artists from the period - on the russian side we have lev kuleshov, who was instrumental in editing theory. I have seen two of his films: by the law and the extraordinary adventures of mr. west in the land of the bolsheviks, both of them brilliant.
On the other hand, let us consider the case of mr. G.W. Pabst, who produced the incredibly moving The Love Of Jeanne Ney, and the similarly well-executed (yet ultimately less satisfying) Pandora's Box.
Although both are worthy of doffing one's hat to, and certainly far superior to any rubbish we have nowadays, who's technique reigns supreme? And what about the other silent masters? Personally I'll take Kuleshov over Pabst, but just barely (I find By the Law to be one of the finest silent dramas ever, right up there with the Passion of Joan of Arc).
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