Tawdry and small and beautiful and heartbreaking. One of those few rapturous cinema experiences.

Less swooningly romantic than Borzage, Murnau, or Griffith, but also consequentially less sentimental, more psychologically grounded and "realistic", which only makes it all the more poignant and moving. The scene where Compson is trying to thread the needle almost brought me to tears, all the while the film barely disguises that it's protagonist is essentially a sociopathic drunken bully. My favorite silent film yet, and definitely the one i'd recommend to fans who find them too melodramatic.

This is by far the best silent film I've seen. It seemed to draw from German Expressionism without going crazy, and the cinematography was beautiful. Furthermore, the acting wasn't overdone, like it is in every single other silent film I've seen, and there were no sequences where everything was sped up, like in every other silent film I've seen.

Quietly beautiful. Von Sternberg's direction feels anticipatory of Ophüls at times, which works wonderfully with the hazy, dreamlike atmosphere of its noir-ish stylings. I love the way the buildings near the docks are designed to feel like extensions of the ships.

#756

One of the pinnacles of the silent era, von Sternberg's exquisite use of light and many-layered depth of field make Docks a feast for the eye--a magnificent tracking shot through the bar is one of the highlights. Bancroft possesses a subtle charm, while Compson communicates so much with little more than her eyes. The simple story shines in the moody atmosphere of the Bowery, the tumbledown saloon and apartments offering a rich and inventive backdrop.

A fragile and helpless woman is the victim of a burly stoker's testosterone-fueled night of fun, during which he objectifies her into a quick marriage, gets her framed for robbery, and she nearly takes the fall for murder. In the end what does she do? Submits. I will say that von Sternberg films it beautifully, the frame constantly bathed in shadow and packed with detail (particularly the raucous bar the majority of the film is set in). But the archaic gender roles in this movie are fucked up.

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# 779

Put simply, it was a delight. The kind of film that plays me like a instrument tugging on those little ol' heartstrings, one moment I'm sad, the next smiling from ear to ear, laughing and then furious and then desperate for things to work out for these two. It could come across as sappy mush but it's just done so well (and, admittedly, I'm a sucker for stuff that straddles the sappy mush line) that I can't help but kinda love it.

Well done film with some little touches to raise it above the fray, especially the solid acting, but not by a whole lot. Much of it is just your standard "lower class people in a bar" stereotypes and a solid ending doesn't make it more than a bit above average. Neither the story nor the characters feel really meaningful and the tone felt off, unable to completely balance drama with lightheartedness.

The basic story is not especially noteworthy: a working-class romance. But it's more evolved than your average Hollywood silent. The characters go beyond the usual archetypes and feel more genuine and relatable. The performances are nicely understated, with only Olga Baclanova getting a wee bit hammy. The film has a naturalistic air to it, a kind of despair tempered by grim resignation and small hopes. Most striking is the photography, it's beautifully shot with some wonderful camera movement.

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