Judith Of Bethulia (1914) :
Brief Review -
An achievement of a whole new level for Hollywood in feature film length by the courtesy of DW Griffith. Griffith had already made many briliant films till 1914 but all were shorts, naturally. With Judith Of Bethulia he expanded the length which automatically expanded the cinematic graphics for Hollywood. This was before he made long-length epics like 'The Birth Of A Nation' (1915) and 'Intolerance' (1916) which are also his longest films ever yet getting everything right with a grand vision within 60 odd minutes was still a difficult task upon the release of Judith Of Bethulia. It was also the first feature-length film made by pioneering film company Biograph. Everything came together at right time for right reasons and the results were simply amazing. The film is based on the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, quite like an biographical. A religious woman seeks to save her people from destruction by seducing and murdering the enemy leader, but her plans get complicated once she falls for him. Blanche Sweet as Judith and Henry B. Walthall as Holofernes looks pretty good even for the contemporary consideration. Lillian Gish, the girl we all love plays a small role of the Young Mother and as always she looks super cute. Judith Of Bethulia doesn't give much space to actors for solo engagement as it involves huge crowd rightly for the context. So, more than actors it was a team effort, doesn't matter if you don't know those artists but you know that the film was not possible without them. Griffith takes his storytelling to new heights with grand scale presentation and vivacious atmosphere around the story. The use of camera, junior artists, explosion and other properties is done very smartly by him and how. It's on a level which set the landmark for filmmaking in Hollywood Cinema.
RATING - 8/10*
By - #samthebestest.
An achievement of a whole new level for Hollywood in feature film length by the courtesy of DW Griffith. Griffith had already made many briliant films till 1914 but all were shorts, naturally. With Judith Of Bethulia he expanded the length which automatically expanded the cinematic graphics for Hollywood. This was before he made long-length epics like 'The Birth Of A Nation' (1915) and 'Intolerance' (1916) which are also his longest films ever yet getting everything right with a grand vision within 60 odd minutes was still a difficult task upon the release of Judith Of Bethulia. It was also the first feature-length film made by pioneering film company Biograph. Everything came together at right time for right reasons and the results were simply amazing. The film is based on the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, quite like an biographical. A religious woman seeks to save her people from destruction by seducing and murdering the enemy leader, but her plans get complicated once she falls for him. Blanche Sweet as Judith and Henry B. Walthall as Holofernes looks pretty good even for the contemporary consideration. Lillian Gish, the girl we all love plays a small role of the Young Mother and as always she looks super cute. Judith Of Bethulia doesn't give much space to actors for solo engagement as it involves huge crowd rightly for the context. So, more than actors it was a team effort, doesn't matter if you don't know those artists but you know that the film was not possible without them. Griffith takes his storytelling to new heights with grand scale presentation and vivacious atmosphere around the story. The use of camera, junior artists, explosion and other properties is done very smartly by him and how. It's on a level which set the landmark for filmmaking in Hollywood Cinema.
RATING - 8/10*
By - #samthebestest.