directed by: Raoul Walsh
written by: Lotta Woods, Douglas Fairbanks (as Elton Thomas)
starring: Douglas Fairbanks, Julanne Johnston, Sôjin Kamiyama
comment: 5th January, 2018
"Happiness must be earned."
Wow, that's what I call a hero's journey. I've never really properly seen anything with Douglas Fairbanks before and now I'm being swept away. His physical (or should I say corporeal) acting creates a character so tangible, interesting and ultimately likable that it makes my heart overflow with joy just watching him. He is the alpha and the omega of the film and that might be why the film seems to slow down when the screen is ocupied by the other suitors. But when he's in the spotlight, wow it's wild. I especially liked the humanoid tree and the underwater harlots tempting him into their lair. And the sets and costumes were all really beautiful. I think I would find a place for some of the lamps from the palace and for the sheer embroidered cloak the caliph was wearing as well.
All in all, I think Raoul Walsh beats Griffith in all the right places when it comes to an oriental spectacle. I mean, he still somewhat presents white people as the good guys and minorities as the bad guys, but his film is not built on the premise that that's the predetermined way things will always be.
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