Review of The White Sister

The story concerns a young woman, the daughter of a rich Italian prince, who falls in love with a soldier. Several things happen in quick succession. The father dies, her half-sister throws her out of the house, her soldier goes to war, she is told (incorrectly as it turns out) that he has died, she nearly dies from the tragic loss, recovers, and becomes a nun in honor of his memory. Finally, he returns to find the love of his life a nun. In the meantime, a nearby volcano threatens to erupt. (Oh, and by the way, her evil half-sister is in love with the soldier.) Whew!! And I thought my life was complicated!

Don't let the crazy plot dissuade you from seeing the film if you have a chance. The leads are good. Colman's passion for Gish really crackles in some key scenes. Gish's saintly refusal could be considered amusing if done by any other actress but she really pulls it off. The subplot of the erupting volcano (symbolic I suppose) could easily have been jettisoned though. However, the scene of Gish taking her vows intercut with scenes of Colman returning are really hypnotic and rival anything I've seen in modern movies. In fact, I don't think a movie with sound could have conveyed the kind of emotion that this silent movie does during these scenes.

It's all definitely melodramatic but in a fun and interesting way.