Way Down East

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Nick M A naive young woman is wooed by an upper crust philanderer who stages a mock wedding in order to bed his unsuspecting prey. She becomes pregnant, and after he discovers this he reveals the truth of their relationship and casts her aside. Her baby dies shortly after being born, and she is forced to try to get work without revealing her past. What struck me the most about this film is the strength of Lillian Gish's acting. I normally can't stand her because her emotional range is so limited, but this was almost like watching a different actress when compared to her previous work! Her characteristic dead eyes were nowhere to be found, and her performance was both moving and nuanced. Richard Barthelmess's strength of will allows him to complement her performance without being entirely overshadowed by her, and he is so handsome that it is hard not to find him riveting on screen. The narrative unfolds a bit too slowly than is necessary, but overall Griffith succeeded in telling a compelling melodrama without allowing it to become too overblown to take seriously. The climactic scene at the end was dynamic and exciting, and will be a hard one to forget. The picture is far from flawless, however. There are several characters that exist solely for comic relief, and they are just badly drawn. It's like watching scenes from a stock Keystone short from 1914 - cinematic comedy has moved well beyond these exaggerated screwball antics, and it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I am also left with the sense that Griffith isn't learning from other directors the same way that most are from one another. There are some stunning scenes here, but all of it feels akin to his previous work. I see him pushing the envelop in terms of working under extreme conditions (hello, blizzards and ice floes), but the language of film is developing rapidly, and he doesn't appear to be expanding his vocabulary. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/14/24 Full Review Audience Member Lillian Gish was one of the great stars of the silent era, pioneering the techniques of cinematic acting before and during the birth of American film-making. She lived to be 100 years old and her career spanned from 1912 to 1987! Way Down East is probably one of her greatest films for its sheer dramatic and emotional quality. The film contains a famous sequence involving an ice river rescue, featuring Gish's character floating down a real river on a slab of ice. Since there were no stunt doubles at the time, Gish had to perform the stunts herself. She got frostbitten on the side of her face! Furthermore, the scene was filmed in White River Junction, Vermont! Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review georgan g Had to give this film the extra 1/2 star for the scene on the ice. It was scary even by modern standards. Naturally, D.W. Griffith's sexist attitudes made the main character, Lillian Gish, look totally helpless. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Luca D Story of a young country girl who is fooled by the wits of a rich prowling city man. She then comes to fear falling in love again. I won't give much away but I can say that the melancholy acting along with a powerful score makes this movie quite somber. If you're into silent films I would highly recommend this. It's not one of those plots where everything is obviously pointed out like in other silent films. The build is amazing and the climax eventually arrives as a bittersweet reward. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/06/21 Full Review William L Griffith certainly held political views that keep modern conversation about the man mired in controversy, but regardless of what else he might have been, there are few that could argue that he wasn't America's first truly great commercial film director. The scales of his films, the sheer ambition, the magnificent quality and diversity of his sets, they each cement his status as a titan of the early industry, and Way Down East is a solid representative of each of these. The narrative itself may not elicit the most profound reactions in this day and age - the film is essentially a rather conventional morality tale steeped in the Christian teachings that would have been ubiquitous among members of polite society at the time of release, and is drenched in melodrama - but it is so incredibly well executed on a technical basis, and features such an emotional performance by Gish (who nimbly avoids the pitfalls of overacting that silent film actors so commonly tend to fall into), that you likely won't care. Setting aside his thoughts on race, Griffith was surprisingly progressive in his stance on women, creating some of the most independently-minded and symbolic female characters, and predating Howard Hawks by decades in that regard. (4/5) Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/03/21 Full Review Audience Member One of the best silent films, and holds up even by modern standards. Interesting plot, with exceptional acting by Barthelmess and Gish. The scene where Gish won't let go of her dead baby is hauntingly sad and beautiful, while the famous ending with Gish on the ice flows as Barthelmess comes to rescue her is movie-making at its finest. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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