Post by Capo on Jul 23, 2007 0:24:00 GMT
A Corner in Wheat
DW Griffith 1909 USA
A tycoon decides to corner the world's wheat market, creating a gulf in the classes.
Made in the same year as the director's much more light-hearted Those Awful Hats, it marks a change in direction for Griffith in particular, and marks the ground for Cinema in general in years to come. Heavy use of irony and social comment by means of parallel editing, between the two classes and the differences between them. There's one shot which stands out and lingers (it's used twice, and is the final, poignant shot of the film, too): of workers at solemn, down-trodden work in the wheat fields, walking slowly towards camera and then U-turning to walk a length in the opposite direction; the slow, slow rhythm is daring and effective.
DW Griffith 1909 USA
A tycoon decides to corner the world's wheat market, creating a gulf in the classes.
Made in the same year as the director's much more light-hearted Those Awful Hats, it marks a change in direction for Griffith in particular, and marks the ground for Cinema in general in years to come. Heavy use of irony and social comment by means of parallel editing, between the two classes and the differences between them. There's one shot which stands out and lingers (it's used twice, and is the final, poignant shot of the film, too): of workers at solemn, down-trodden work in the wheat fields, walking slowly towards camera and then U-turning to walk a length in the opposite direction; the slow, slow rhythm is daring and effective.