Broken Blossoms
by D. W. Griffith
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Lillian GishDirector: D. W. Griffith
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Silent
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 75 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-04-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Alpha Video
Movie Reviews of Broken Blossoms
Movie Review: No one really looks at the hero
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a silent film, yes, but it still packs an emotional punch. Lillian Gish is Lucy, the roughly 15 year old daughter of a boxer who is the embodiment of evil in the film, who beats her. Then there's Cheng Huan, the Chinese hero of the story. It may seen like an old-fashioned story, but I seriously doubt that a major motion picture could be made today with an immigrant and a drug addict as the hero of the story. One of the things that's interesting is how even though Cheng is an opium addict, that doesn't prevent him from being what seems to be a relatively successful shopkeeper.
One of the things that struck me about this film is that it shows how racism prevents white from fully acknowledging the humanity of others. For example, the scene where the two Christian missionaries give Cheng a tract (ironically entitled "Hell") shows that they could never accept Cheng as another missionary, even though he originally came to London as a Buddhist missionary. We feel that even if he had tried to explain, they would not have been able to understand.
The same is visible in the relationship between Lucy and Cheng, which many people have called a love story. There should be some mutuality for it a be a love story. Cheng reveres Lucy, which calls up racist ideas of the white woman as automatically attractive for non-whites, but Lucy is simply glad to not be beaten, asking "Why are you so nice to me, Chinky?" Not exactly a romantic line. We can see how exhausted Lucy is, as she sleeps through most of her time at Cheng's, which allows for a lot of time for us to watch Cheng watching Lucy. He's clearly attracted to her but doesn't do anything about it, which is necessary for him to remain as the hero, since Lucy is simply too young.
The only time one of the white characters really looks at Cheng is the boxer when Cheng has a gun pointed at him.
This is definitely a tragedy, and it works on many levels.
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