JohnSeal Review of A Page of Madness

A Page of Madness (1926)

The best silent movie you've never seen...

[10/10 · 18 January 2012]

...until, of course, you've seen it, at which point it instantly vaults to the first rank of silents along with Greed, The Crowd, Man With a Movie Camera, Nosferatu, and so forth. I don't want to give away too much--a great deal of pleasure will be derived from a 'cold' viewing of A Page of Madness--but let's just say it's one of the most radical films of the 1920s. So far ahead of its time that it remains revelatory and utterly contemporary eighty years on, it anticipates much of twentieth century avant garde and experimental cinema whilst also managing to tell a story that is completely captivating. Director Teinosuke Kinugasa is best known for his 1953 drama Gate of Hell, but his lengthy hundred-film plus resume extends back to the early '30s and surely harbors some other gems. Presumably and sadly, most of them are probably lost--if I'm wrong, someone please point me towards more!