Well made silent melodrama, of some historic import.
The acting is generally quite good and understated for the time, the cinematography has some nice lighting effects, and moving shots (and one amazing close up, where the camera shakes with a character's anger).
On the other hand, the melodramatic story feels blandly predictable, along with having a giant plot hole at its center, and some other annoying, easily avoided contradictions and logic gaps.
Certainly this story -- a struggling Italian immigrant and his bride in the slums of New York, coming to America to fulfill their dreams, but finding disillusionment and despair -- must have resonated with a lot of people at the time. I just wish the story had the subtlety of the acting and images.
A good, solid, important early film.
The acting is generally quite good and understated for the time, the cinematography has some nice lighting effects, and moving shots (and one amazing close up, where the camera shakes with a character's anger).
On the other hand, the melodramatic story feels blandly predictable, along with having a giant plot hole at its center, and some other annoying, easily avoided contradictions and logic gaps.
Certainly this story -- a struggling Italian immigrant and his bride in the slums of New York, coming to America to fulfill their dreams, but finding disillusionment and despair -- must have resonated with a lot of people at the time. I just wish the story had the subtlety of the acting and images.
A good, solid, important early film.