I'm a newcomer to the world of early silent cinema and after having the pleasure of viewing the 1917 film The Dying Swan, by Yevgeni Bauer, I viewed this earlier film of his, Daydreams. The 1915 film Daydreams, much like his The Dying Swan, illustrates Russia's more than capable film industry during this time period.
Daydreams, is a drama containing themes such as love, madness, and death that I also saw in Bauer's film, The Dying Swan. This film revolves around a man, in what was then modern Russia, and his obsessive love towards his recently deceased wife; this obsession ends up creating not only an unhealthy and disastrous predicament for himself, but for those around him as well.
The actors in the film did very well in conveying the emotions of the story allowing me to understand the feelings within the unspoken narrative. There was even an instance where the main character made a scene hard to watch as he embarrassed himself in front of many as he allowed his obsession to take over; an obsession, he worried, was making him mad. Additionally the editing was also something to behold. In this film I witnessed the implementation double exposure creating the image of a transparent phantom; a trick that took me by surprise.
Despite the well done acting, sets, and cinematography, the story was not as gratifying for my tastes. The character development was simply unassuming and not as developed. However after watching The Dying Swan, which I can now say is the preferred of the two, I am given an appreciation towards the advances he made in filming and storytelling between the two.
Overall I believe this is quite a decent film and in no way mediocre; a good demonstration of the work of Bauer and perhaps of early Russian cinema.
Daydreams, is a drama containing themes such as love, madness, and death that I also saw in Bauer's film, The Dying Swan. This film revolves around a man, in what was then modern Russia, and his obsessive love towards his recently deceased wife; this obsession ends up creating not only an unhealthy and disastrous predicament for himself, but for those around him as well.
The actors in the film did very well in conveying the emotions of the story allowing me to understand the feelings within the unspoken narrative. There was even an instance where the main character made a scene hard to watch as he embarrassed himself in front of many as he allowed his obsession to take over; an obsession, he worried, was making him mad. Additionally the editing was also something to behold. In this film I witnessed the implementation double exposure creating the image of a transparent phantom; a trick that took me by surprise.
Despite the well done acting, sets, and cinematography, the story was not as gratifying for my tastes. The character development was simply unassuming and not as developed. However after watching The Dying Swan, which I can now say is the preferred of the two, I am given an appreciation towards the advances he made in filming and storytelling between the two.
Overall I believe this is quite a decent film and in no way mediocre; a good demonstration of the work of Bauer and perhaps of early Russian cinema.