tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435823559307305151.post3944665279635138731..comments2024-03-29T10:21:47.048+00:00Comments on Film: Ab Initio: 1909 - Corner in Wheat - D.W. GriffithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435823559307305151.post-50504477786643188052022-08-24T23:43:27.636+01:002022-08-24T23:43:27.636+01:00Thanks forr writing thisThanks forr writing thisCorvallis Movershttps://www.find-local-movers.com/us/oregon-moving-companies/corvallis-movers.shtmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435823559307305151.post-53346504832143715292010-09-26T20:04:17.378+01:002010-09-26T20:04:17.378+01:00@Rob - I think you make a much stronger case for t...@Rob - I think you make a much stronger case for the film than the piece I quoted, particularly in regards to the comments about the film functioning as a Juvenalian satire and operating in a purely visual level.<br /><br />I suspect though, that the film owes more to Griffith's own strong Christian beliefs than any aspirations towards making a satirical work of art. However, to counter my own argument, does the author's original intention matter?<br /><br />I suspect it does not. I will certainly return to this film and your comment as we approach Griffith's later filmsAmanAnandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435823559307305151.post-65224428403818857072010-08-27T11:14:30.923+01:002010-08-27T11:14:30.923+01:00Hmm.
I definitely agree that the film 'wobbl...Hmm. <br /><br />I definitely agree that the film 'wobbles' in tone a little towards the end, but I'd go with Silent Volume on the quality of the grain death image... It's a real corker, and doesn't detract from the film's place in the Kane/Blood line, in my opinion. (The 'There Will Be Blood' link is especially significant, as this one's based on Frank Norris, a major influence on Upton 'Oil!' Sinclair)<br /><br />The film as a whole (unlike Milton's superbly tragic verbal characterisation of Satan, say) operates in a purely visual way - the opening juxtaposing the dignified vertical plough lines of the farmers with the buzzing shirt cuffs of the owners; the second sequence mirroring left/right two tables: opulent feast and barren bread. This makes the choice of such a visual 'downfall' perfect, and brilliantly symbolic. <br /><br />Where I'd say it goes 'wrong' is almost the opposite from your suggestion (that it should be subtler and have more gravitas)... I think the transition to a more extreme form of 'Juvenalian' satire (signalled by the obscene 'YOU HAVE CONTROL OF THE ENTIRE MARKET OF THE WORLD' card) leads neatly to a nasty Swiftian end. The mistake is in having the owner melodramatically lifted out of the pit, and wept over by his wife...<br /><br />The perfect close to this film, transforming it into a fantastic visual satire (anticipating the Marx 'Duck Soup', or Chaplin's 'Great Dictator' etc) would be a single close-up of a loaf of bread on that table. With the Wheat King's ring finger just poking out of the side.Robnoreply@blogger.com