Do appreciate silents and also old short films. Some of the best came from DW Griffith in the 1910s. He was not one of my favourite directors, but his short and feature films are really well worth seeing (the best musts) and he was an interesting director. Two of his best ever short films came from 1912, one being 'The Mothering Heart' and the other being the more ground-breaking 'The Musketeers of Pig Alley'. Both highly recommended.
'The Painted Lady' isn't recommended as enthusiastically. It is definitely interesting and there is a good deal to like about it, it is also a lot better than the rating here suggests. 'The Painted Lady' at the same time is not one of Griffith's best short films and nowhere among the best of his entire filmography, and is somewhat uneven. It's well directed, looks good and has a great lead performance, but the story and messaging are rather patchy in my view.
Am going to start with the good. The best thing about 'The Painted Lady' is the deeply felt and never over-melodramatic (something that could have easily been the case with this premise) performance of Blanche Sweet, who has such telling eyes and affecting facial expressions. Griffith's visual directing is very accomplished and he has a good eye for atmosphere.
Furthermore, 'The Painted Lady' looks pretty good visually, and is designed and photographed beautifully and atmospherically. A lot is packed in and it doesn't get dull, also thought it starts great.
However, it is hard to not wish that the second half lived up to it or at least was as strong. For me sadly, the second half felt very muddled and rushed. Like there was too much going on in a too short space of time, which is not usually the case with Griffith's short films and the coherence is affected as a result. Some of the goings on in the house are downright odd in a way that felt overdone.
While the messaging is well intended, it is also rather heavy-handed and feels out of date. While the rest of the acting is competent enough (nobody or nothing is terrible), nobody else is on Sweet's level and lacks her subtlety.
Overall, decent if patchy. 6/10.
'The Painted Lady' isn't recommended as enthusiastically. It is definitely interesting and there is a good deal to like about it, it is also a lot better than the rating here suggests. 'The Painted Lady' at the same time is not one of Griffith's best short films and nowhere among the best of his entire filmography, and is somewhat uneven. It's well directed, looks good and has a great lead performance, but the story and messaging are rather patchy in my view.
Am going to start with the good. The best thing about 'The Painted Lady' is the deeply felt and never over-melodramatic (something that could have easily been the case with this premise) performance of Blanche Sweet, who has such telling eyes and affecting facial expressions. Griffith's visual directing is very accomplished and he has a good eye for atmosphere.
Furthermore, 'The Painted Lady' looks pretty good visually, and is designed and photographed beautifully and atmospherically. A lot is packed in and it doesn't get dull, also thought it starts great.
However, it is hard to not wish that the second half lived up to it or at least was as strong. For me sadly, the second half felt very muddled and rushed. Like there was too much going on in a too short space of time, which is not usually the case with Griffith's short films and the coherence is affected as a result. Some of the goings on in the house are downright odd in a way that felt overdone.
While the messaging is well intended, it is also rather heavy-handed and feels out of date. While the rest of the acting is competent enough (nobody or nothing is terrible), nobody else is on Sweet's level and lacks her subtlety.
Overall, decent if patchy. 6/10.