OK, it's a given that this is a remarkably well-made film that's brilliantly directed but is it entertaining to a 21st century audience?
Yes, it is - but possibly more so because it's so fascinating as a piece of art rather than an enjoyable story. Maybe because it's set in a kind of fantasy world or maybe it's because we're all so familiar with the story but the characters don't quite feel relatable enough for us to empathise with them or feel their emotions. As a story, you'll enjoy it but you won't feel part of it.
There was a filmmaker called Chester Erskine who made a film called MIDNIGHT in 1934. He directed that with more imagination and enthusiasm than hardly anyone else had done before. Unfortunately for him, his ambition was much bigger than his actual skill making that film laughably bad at times but never boring (I actually liked it but the jury's out as to whether that's a brilliantly innovative movie or just amateurish rubbish). Rouben Mamoulian however knew how to do it properly! He demonstrated that he had a hundred times more innovation and he also had the advantage of being an absolute genius. Even if you know the story backwards this picture is is so captivating that you cannot tear your eyes away from it.
As a "horror film" however it couldn't be described as scary. On that grounds it fails and it doesn't quite have as much eerie atmosphere as DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN or indeed THE MUMMY.....but although it's older, it's a better made film than any of those.
It falls into the perpetual trap that period dramas succumb to: it's Victorian England as imagined by filmmakers from the time the film was made. It's also Victorian people speaking in that annoying affected manner that people allegedly spoke in "the olden days." That aside, there's nothing else which can be criticised about this . The incredible vision and skill of Mamoulian make this seem as though it was made just a few years ago rather than thirty years after the actual Victorian era. It's easily the best telling of this story.
Yes, it is - but possibly more so because it's so fascinating as a piece of art rather than an enjoyable story. Maybe because it's set in a kind of fantasy world or maybe it's because we're all so familiar with the story but the characters don't quite feel relatable enough for us to empathise with them or feel their emotions. As a story, you'll enjoy it but you won't feel part of it.
There was a filmmaker called Chester Erskine who made a film called MIDNIGHT in 1934. He directed that with more imagination and enthusiasm than hardly anyone else had done before. Unfortunately for him, his ambition was much bigger than his actual skill making that film laughably bad at times but never boring (I actually liked it but the jury's out as to whether that's a brilliantly innovative movie or just amateurish rubbish). Rouben Mamoulian however knew how to do it properly! He demonstrated that he had a hundred times more innovation and he also had the advantage of being an absolute genius. Even if you know the story backwards this picture is is so captivating that you cannot tear your eyes away from it.
As a "horror film" however it couldn't be described as scary. On that grounds it fails and it doesn't quite have as much eerie atmosphere as DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN or indeed THE MUMMY.....but although it's older, it's a better made film than any of those.
It falls into the perpetual trap that period dramas succumb to: it's Victorian England as imagined by filmmakers from the time the film was made. It's also Victorian people speaking in that annoying affected manner that people allegedly spoke in "the olden days." That aside, there's nothing else which can be criticised about this . The incredible vision and skill of Mamoulian make this seem as though it was made just a few years ago rather than thirty years after the actual Victorian era. It's easily the best telling of this story.