Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Carl Schultz 'Lyrical' is a wonderfully appropriate word to describe 'Broken Blossoms.' The picture is almost like a sonnet in its delicate perfection, poignant almost to the point of melancholy, with a running time that seems much, much shorter than its actual eighty-nine minutes. This is one of Griffith's 'small' pictures, unlike the super-productions such as 'Intolerance' or 'Orphans of the Storm,' or even 'Way Down East.' Still, it's difficult to believe that the intricate and detailed and richly authentic waterfront location was a set constructed to Griffith's specifications for the film.Like most other students of film history, I have conflicted feelings about David Wark Griffith and his legacy of racism and intolerance, as is plainly demonstrated in his watershed picture 'The Birth of a Nation.' But still, I don't know that it's fair to ignore or deny or even question his ability to use the cinematic medium to create drama, establish dramatic nuance, and express emotion, particularly in an art form which at the time was necessarily speechless.'Broken Blossoms' as a film was actually suggested to Griffith by Douglas Fairbanks, who'd read the Thomas Burke source material, the short story collection 'Limehouse Nights.' And according to actress Lillian Gish, who like Richard Barthelmess gives probably her career-best performance in this picture, the film's release was delayed after production and principal photography was completed because Griffith was so emotionally devastated and drained by the filming experience that he couldn't face editing the picture. 'Broken Blossoms' eventually became the very first motion picture released by the new United Artists Corporation, the elite production company formed in 1919 by cinematic superstars Griffith, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and Doug Fairbanks.Should you decide to see the picture, try to find the 'Griffith Masterworks' version with the soulful Joseph Turrin music score, which enhances and augments the sadness of the story. The film was popular enough at the time of its original release that a song entitled 'Broken Blossoms' was composed and recorded and became moderately popular. Turrin located a copy of the original sheet music of that lovely song, and performs it on the piano in one of the 'Masterworks' extras.Those extras also include a filmed introduction by Lillian Gish and the entire text of the original Thomas Burke short story. And as an extra and unintentional bonus, watch closely about twenty minutes into the picture, right after the inter-title which reads, "The girl with the tear-worn face": The shot shows Gish looking into a store window, and reflected in the window glass the viewer can see the ghostly image of photographer Billy Bitzer standing behind his tripod camera and then Griffith himself in a vest and shirtsleeves walking briskly onto the set and seating himself in a canvas chair beside Bitzer. The unintended action was a mistake and a production error and as such the moment violates the illusion and therefore distracts the viewer's attention momentarily from the drama, but still it's a fascinating curio of motion picture history.'Broken Blossoms' is highly recommended. Far beyond a picture which will stay with you for a long time, it's a picture you'll never forget...nor quite ever get over.

guisreis Great movie by the pioneer D.W. Griffith. It is beautifully filmed (including the quite realistic boxing footage) and has really amazing performances by Donald Crisp as the violent alcoholic misogynist boxer Battling Burrows and Lillian Gish as her suffering daughter Lucy (white Richard Barthelmess, though, does not convince so much as the "yellow man" from China). Although with a naive idea of an always peaceful Eastern spirit, it denounces xenophobia and - very curiously - racism. Besides that, by portraying domestic violence it also denounces misogyny. The story begins in a slow pace showing the contrast between calm Chinese people and brute Western sailors. Years after the "yellow man" comes to London slums, he knows a charming girl whose life is a hell, as her father alternates between boxing, drinking in the bar, and beating her at home. Then, what had began monotonously is turned into a storm. I have not watched "Intolerance" yet, but this is my favorite film by Griffith, author of infamous "The birth of a nation", by far (I have also watched "A Corner in Wheat").

JRamos3 Upon first viewing this film, needless to say that I was a little more than put off. As this was the second silent film I had watched this week, and only the second ever, I was disturbed by what I can only imagine are common trends among movies of the silent film era: misogyny and racial bigotry. As in Charlie Chaplin's "The Circus", the role of the heel is played by a brutish father who mercilessly, and without any sense of remorse, admonishes and physically abuses his daughter. This is an interesting concept in the sense that this movie was made in 1919, and Chaplins in 1928, during the height of the woman's suffrage movement in America. At a time when women were striving for equality in the voting booths, it seems as though what they really should have been working towards is equality in films. The fact that all the characters in the film except the "yellow man" regard the fathers blatant abuse of his daughter with such a cavalier attitude speaks volumes as to what the prevailing thoughts on a woman's place in society should have been. That being said, overall, the movie was captivating, albeit a bit slow in getting the story moving. ]A second particular notion worth mentioning is the way in which the characters of different races regard each other. All the "yellow man" wants to do is spread his Buddhist beliefs of peace and good will to the savage Anglo-Saxons, while later on in the film a priest says that his brother is going to spread the "good word" to the oriental heathens. Such obvious disdain being portrayed on the screen is no doubt in some way indicative of the real feelings regarding foreigners that most whites had. Additionally, if you prescribe to the maxim that art imitates life, then this notion of accepted racism is even more plausible. All in all, this was an enjoyable movie apart from what was at times blatant racist dialogue and action.

gavin6942 An intimate portrait of Cheng Huan (Richard Barthelmess), a kind hearted Chinese man, and his love for a poor abused girl named Lucy Burrows (Lillian Gish), as well as the brutality of Battling Burrows, a sadistic prizefighter.The visual style of Broken Blossoms emphasizes the seedy Limehouse streets with their dark shadows, drug addicts and drunkards, contrasting them with the beauty of Cheng and Lucy's innocent attachment as expressed by Cheng's decorative apartment. Conversely, the Burrows' bare cell reeks of oppression and hostility. Film critic and historian Richard Schickel goes so far as to credit this gritty realism with inspiring "the likes of Pabst, Stiller, von Sternberg, and others".I found the expression of Chinese thought to be remarkable. At a time when Americans feared the "yellow peril", this paints the Chinese as peaceful and loving, in contrast with a violent America. Cheng is like a saint or martyr, taking his convictions as far as they can be taken.The "closet scene" is the most discussed part of the film, and Gish's performance as "a tortured animal" in this claustrophobic space is what makes the film memorable, and even considered by some to have horror elements. Ivan Butler, for example, claims the scene "produces an overwhelming effect of claustrophobic terror".Historically, the film is also important because it became the first film released by United Artists, the production company formed in 1919 by Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith. As any student of film knows, this company is going strong today (2010).I absolutely recommend this film to anyone who appreciates silent film. In an age dominated by German directors (Murnau, Lang, Wiese) and their Expressionist tendencies, this is a breath of fresh air.