A film of silence. Nowadays, it is almost unheard of to see a film that has no sound. However, the first films in history had neither sound nor onboard music. Most music was performed where the silent films were being shown. Again, unheard of today . . . but there have been attempts.
There are a few films within the past 30 years that have attempted this feat. One of the funniest attempts was done as an extra for the American action-comedy Shanghai Knights. The original film is downright hilarious. One of the extras is even funnier than the film. It shows the normal film, sepia-toned to look old, using caption-pages to indicate lines being said, and the film was sped-up slightly to look old-timey. The attempt did show up in its “predecessor” film, Shanghai Noon, also as an extra. It is not uncommon to see an old Western gunfight in a silent film, but to see a martial-art silent film is an interesting idea. I also found it humorous within the ending of Shanghai Knights, that a trouble-making street-urchin was named Charlie Chaplin, the so-called “king” of silent pictures.
Probably one of the most humorous attempts at a silent picture in the modern talkie era is the Mel Brooks film Silent Movie. The movie is absolutely hilarious in which a ne’er-do-well director tries to assemble a star-studded cast to make a silent picture. The antics in the film are extremely funny. It is probably the best attempt to make a silent film in the modern era.
However, nowadays, silent pictures are not being made. Audiences nowadays need the sound and the tones of the speaking actor to feel something out of the movie. I think the funniest comment about modern day’s perception of the silent film is very true; “people don’t go to the theater to read, they came to watch.” Sound is a pivotal part of movies these days because sound opened the doors for the action films like The Matrix to be made. In fact, if The Matrix was conceived during the silent film era, it would suck heavily.
The old silent films usually had one basic plot. Movies these days have multiple plots. One example of a multi-plotted movie is Transformers. Even though the film has one major plot, there are a number of individual character plots that helped a character grow and make the film very believable. Probably the best example of a multi-plotted film is The Lord of the Rings. This incredible trilogy had one basic plot: to destroy the One Ring. However, each character had their own plot; their own problems to overcome.
Silent films are important to the timeline of film history but are very simple in nature. Today’s films can get incredibly complex and the sound becomes necessary to that increasing complexity in film. Maybe one day, the films will become so involving that even the audience can get involved with the film itself.
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