User reviews

Having just watched Rouben Mamoulian's WE LIVE AGAIN (1934), I decided to complement it by checking out this first film adaptation – which is readily accessible on the 'Net – of the Leo Tolstoy classic. Being just 12 minutes long and 105 years old, one is hardly surprised by the utmost streamlining involved: with only one intertitle along the way, there is no scene-setting (apart from the uniforms and conspicuous beards, it would be hard to place this in Russia!), the plot is rendered even more clichéd than in the later film (the meeting between the two protagonists is quickly followed by seduction, downfall, trial and redemption), and characterization is typically resolved via exaggerated hand gestures (with the guilt-ridden hero prone to shielding his eyes)! Griffith tries to alleviate the static nature of the cinematography by filling the background with movement…yet the final moments in Siberia (which differs from the later version, but I suspect is actually closer to the original source – with the Prince illustrating his altruism merely by donating a Bible to the female protagonist, who promptly changes her 'wicked' ways!) do offer some mild pictorial qualities.

Resurrection (1909)

** (out of 4)

A Russian nobleman seduced and abandoned a young girl several years ago. Years later he finds himself on a jury where the girl is on trial and soon he finds himself feeling guilty. Bashing the rich, sympathy towards the poor and relgion are all on display in this Griffith short but nothing much comes out of it. The staging it a bit poor, the direction is off but the two leads deliver nice performances.

Cricket on the Hearth, The (1909)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

After three years out at sea, a man returns home to find his love has been forced into marriage with another man. Even at 11-minutes this sucker here is pretty boring, without any life what's so ever. The direction from Griffith is quite lazy but considering he made over one hundred films this year alone...I'll cut him some slack.

This 11 minute film was released in May 1909 by Biograph Films. There is some speculation that this film was an adaptation on Leo Tolstoy's melancholy story of a Russian girl's faith, but that hasn't been confirmed. However, the final product did not sway me.