Picking up the fallen petals

Yesterday, CineVerse delved into the world of movie pioneer D.W. Griffith and discussed one of his seminal works, "Broken Blossoms." Here is a recap of that group discussion:

WHAT SURPRISED YOU ABOUT THIS FILM, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT IT’S 95 YEARS OLD AND A SILENT MOVIE?

·       It’s shockingly violent and disturbing in its graphic violence and subject matter, depicting extreme physical and emotional abuse by a father upon his daughter as well as murder by gunshot and suicide by knife. Even the boxing scenes look fairly realistic for the time period, as if the actors were actually connecting on many of the punches.

·       Lillian Gish is a phenomenal actress for this era of cinema: she can emote volumes worth with just a few simple facial expressions and subtle body language; the mental torture she portrays in the closet prior to her beating is hauntingly effective and credible.

·       The film is dated in countless ways, but still packs an emotional resonance and relevancy in its themes and situations.

·       The movie is unintentionally ironic and contradictory by today’s standards: Griffith is preaching tolerance and compassion here, obviously, yet the racial slurs used and casting of white actors in Asian and black parts says a lot about the era in which Broken Blossoms was made and dilutes the impact of those characters.

·       The plot is incredibly simplistic, yet not wholly predictable. In most melodramas and romance films of this (or any period), usually the distressed damsel is rescued and lives happily ever after with her knight in shining armor, so to speak. Here, all 3 major characters die violently, and no one is redeemed.

·       And yet, despite this grim, depressing denouement, this film stands as a lyrical, poetic expression of grander themes and ideas—that love, acceptance and patience are ideals worth fighting and dying for. The film is likely unsatisfying to many viewers as an entertaining yarn or formulaic love triangle story. However, it serves as a stark reminder of how the human race needs to improve.

WHAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT BROKEN BLOSSOMS WHEN CONSIDERING THE FILM IN THE CONTEXT OF ITS TIME?

·       This was an era of omnipresent racism against Asians in America as a result of the importation of many Asian laborers and America’s broad ambitions in the Pacific. Newspapers sensationalized this threat from Asians as “the yellow peril.”

·       Asians were commonly depicted in films and literature as villains and evil threats. The tropes and stereotypes associated with Asians included depictions of opium addicts, white slavers, and uneducated shopkeepers.

·       Also, interracial marriages were against the law, and interracial intimacy would have been seen as an effrontery to society.

·       In this context, it was brave of Griffith to depict an innocent relationship between an Asian man and white girl and an Asian character worthy of sympathy and admiration.

·       Griffith, who was increasingly criticized for espousing racist views in his epic “Birth of a Nation” 4 years earlier, sought to make amends with audiences by directing “Intolerance” and “Broken Blossoms,” two films that promoted racial and religious tolerance and compassion. This was an attempt at making a humanitarian and sensitive statement.

WHAT THEMES ARE EXPLORED IN BROKEN BLOSSOMS?

·       Racial and religious tolerance: Cheng preaches Christ’s golden rule to the sailors.

·       The power of unconditional love and true inner beauty: Cheng’s love for Lucy makes him worship and adore her and forces him to make sacrifices

·       The subjugation of women in a patriarchal-dominated society: Lucy is trapped; she is warned against marriage by housewives on the streets and cautioned against prostitution by harlots she runs into, so her only two means of escape from her unhappiness are blocked. Lucy is also viewed as a servant and scapegoat by her brutish father.

·       How capitalist society breeds attitudes of violence, cruelty, and unfairness, contrasted to the Eastern philosophy of kindness, reverence, and compassion exemplified in Cheng: consider how Battling Burrows is contrasted with Cheng in speech, dress, body language and attitude.

WHAT OTHER FILMS OR WORKS OF LITERATURE DOES BROKEN BLOSSOMS REMIND YOU OF?

·       Fellini’s La Strada

·       Films depicting an interracial relationship between a Caucasian and an Asian, such as Rushmore, Sideways, and Sayonara

OTHER MAJOR WORKS BY D.W. GRIFFITH

·       The Birth of a Nation

·       Intolerance

·       Way Down East

·       The Musketeers of Pig Alley

·       532 total films he directed between 1908 and 1931