Okay, I was amazed that this movie was on Flixster. I'm even more amazed to find it on Flixster twice.This is on the 501 Must-See Movie, but is wildly out of print. I mean, you can't get a $100.00 VHS of it. I couldn't even find a copy to buy. That's amazing to me. I mean, I work at a rare-video store and if I try
hard enough, I can find a copy of almost everything. But this movie is impossible find. Luckily, it was Rudolph Valentino's birthday and the fine folks over at Turner Classic Movies decided to hold a Rudolph Valentino marathon in honor of the anniversary of his birth. Good for me. This really is a fine movie. I had no idea that the title would be so literal though. Really, this is more of a war movie than an action epic. It's one of those first real ant-war movies. I understand why. Unlike Wooden Crosses or All Quiet on the Western Front, this one uses far more biblical allegory and invovles an "out-of-war" situation. For most of this movie,w e deal with the relationships of a cocky Bruce Wayne who has been deprived of his fortune for reasons unknown. (I'm still quesitoning that moemnt in the movie. I mean, grandpa did say that he would be the heir of the fortune.) We see his socially promiscuous ways and that's when the idea of the war is brought up. But then Jesus shows up...I'm pretty sure he's Jesus. Rex Ingram wasn't exactly subtle with His Holiness's Bearded Blocking. (I'm aware "His Holiness" refers to the Pope...but it worked out too well.) We then see the physical manifestations of the titular characters every so often interspurced with non-related war scenes.What's really interesting is the B-story going on with Julio's father. His is the character that really makes the most on-screen change. Admittedly, Julio kind of pulls a lightswitch change, but seeing the miser deal with his family betraying him because of their German heritage was interesting. The Germans really get an unfair rap in this movie. I understand portraying the Germans as evil in the war scenes, but they're totally assholes outside of the battle sequences and that's just meant to win over audiences. Who can blame Ingram? I mean, it's not like this movie was meant to be watched almost a century later. Who am I to complain? I actually kind of giggled at poitns. But the best part about the story is the destruction of the house. That was soem epic stuff. I'll give the 501 those points watching the roof collapse and the Germans tearing apart the inside of the house and abusing the family and the servants. Pretty solid stuff.This is another one of those over two hour silents. Luckily, not too much longer, but it did drage a little. Good thing that the visuals really sold me in this one because it was honestly top notch. I'm probably going to buy this if it is ever released.
May 8, 2008
