Popular reviews

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  Review by directorscut ★★★★★

  Simply and unquestionably, an absolute masterpiece. This is cinema in its purest form; a virtuoso kaleidoscope of indelible, unforgettable images and trail-blazing cinematic technique that tell a universal human story powerfully and vividly. Made in 1923 you could easily believe this was made in the late '20s at the peak of silent cinema's artistic and technical achievements. The cinematography, the composition and the editing work in perfect unison creating a rhythm that feels fresh and exciting even today in this age of rapid editing. The picture quality on the Blu-ray is magnificent, the images are so vivid and clear that its difficult to believe you're watching a ninety year old film. Instead you are looking out of a window into another time and place. "Coeur Fidele" is a film that shakes you up and will leave an everlasting impression on you, comparable with "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans".

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  Review by Neil Bahadur ★★★★★

  God forbid anyone read the synopsis on this website - which aside from spoiling the ending completely misreads the movie as far less provocative and modern than it actually is. That being said...it really is that simple - but simplicity akin to Murnau's Sunrise. As with that film, its all about style - not style for its own sake, but in the manner in which it can elevate something to reveal its most expressive qualities.
  Epstein turns the mundanity of everyday life into a kind of poetic spectacle, but without the melodramatic flourish of the later Murnau film. Instead its even a bit provocative - for example the idea of a married woman with a newborn carrying on with an…

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  Review by shookone ★★★½

  love between the smoky reality of the coal mountains and the piers of marseille, signaling into freedom. the worried and apathetic countenance never leaves the impressionistically enlightened faces, not of our hero left alone by his fate, not of la protagonista being caged in her destiny. the huge vastness of the ocean remains only a dream.

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  Review by Owen ★★★★ 2

  It's late, I've sat, frustrated, through another film since I watched this, It's not going to get the review it deserves, you should see it.

  I watched it and at the end my wife asked me how it was. I said it was great, that it was from 1923 but felt like it was from 1928 and she laughed. I guess that statement is either a resounding recommendation or not depending on your relationship with silent film.

  
  Film 34/100 on my 100 to watch in 2016
  letterboxd.com/owene73/list/100-films-to-watch-in-2016-1/

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  Review by Paul Elliott ★★★★½ 1

  The world of film was full of possibilities when the 26-year-old French film director, essayist and novelist Jean Epstein released Cœur fidèle to the silver screen. Set in the old port of Marseille, it's an old-fashioned melodrama similar to Broken Blossoms, but from a French perspective. Nevertheless, the story is not the film's main focus; instead, Epstein was attempting to create something called photogénie - a single, fleeting expression that seems to encompass the full significance of the scene, a quality that was different to what was seen in theatrical films at the time. His creative use of close-ups provided his principal actors with an opportunity to use their faces to convey emotions expressed in silence.

  Marie (Gina Manès) is…

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  Review by Puffin ★★★★★ 1

  I don't know what to say. Intoxicating is a good word, terrifying is another. But otherwise, I'm lost. I can call it one of the five greatest silent films of all time, but I can't tell if that'd be overvaluing or undervaluing... whatever Jean Epstein made 93 years ago.

  One reviewer said this can easily pass for 1928, but I can't imagine this film being made in 1928, this film isn't a product of the 20's. I don't know what time it belongs in, all I know is that it seems to take inspiration from all decades, before or after, and sews them into this timeless, perfect piece of filmmaking.

  I can say it's like La Roue but more concise,…

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  Review by freelunch ★★★★ 3

  It’s funny how montage and rhythmic editing is the most boring, commonplace thing ever but watching it in these 90-100 year old films is always just riveting to me. Mostly in a “how the hell did they even do that, it must’ve been a pain in the ass!” kinda way. Immaculate framing throughout this that feels decades ahead of its time, some of the best close-ups out of this era next to The Passion of Joan of Arc, and while I wasn’t blown away by the story as much as I hoped (the characters are pretty thin) I can’t deny that this was ridiculously engaging throughout. I’m definitely interested in the rest of Jean Epstein’s filmography - because if the rest of his stuff slaps this hard, then call me Chris Rock.

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  Review by fincherkubrykom ★★★★★

  Я дивлюсь світове кіно з бюджетом у сотні мільйонів доларів, де оператору ніби погано і не допомагає навіть стендікам, а режисер монтажу не розуміється на правильній підбірці кадрів, крупностях, доцільності тощо. Зараз нема потреби новаторства, треба просто робити трішки якісніше, ніж meh. А ось ще за німого кіно Епштейн не полінувався і зробив приклад для наслідування у монтажі. Ряд сцен цієї стрічки - це просто шедевр.

  Чомусь саме зараз перегляд мені дався дуже складно - хотілось аудіальності, шуму моря на фоні розбитих життів, стукоту стаканів, гулу людей і тотальної тиші у окремих випадках.

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  Review by Lencho of the Apes ★★★½

  Dockside Marseilles; proto-Gabin's an abusive fuck and he terrorizes his helpless wife and helpless neighbor until he doesn't. Style over substance, but what enormous style! Phenomenally attractive restoration, too, a peak experience for the silent-film audience.

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  Review by teamgal ★★★½

  Jean Epstein's reputation certainly does not rest on his abilities as a storyteller as this largely mechanical, cliched romance proves. But his genius at image-making is on ample display throughout this, one of his earliest features. It's there in his expressive use of close-ups and overlays, the atmospheric lighting, and the visionary optical effects. The series of dynamic, rhythmically-edited impressionist montages are particularly impressive.

  1923, best of

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  Review by James ★★★★ 4

  Jean Epstein is not a name that rings many bells when speaking of early cinema pioneers, which is tragic because what he accomplished in Cœur fidèle is nothing short of remarkable.

  Some have observed that this seems out of place for 1923, having more in common with late era silent film and in terms of sheer directorial innovation this holds a lot of truth. Epstein's melodrama is the antithesis of the expressionist movement taking hold in neighbouring Germany at the time, in an essay he speaks of his contempt for Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari citing it as a distortion of reality for the sake of artifice. His work has a simplistic clarity much more in common with…

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  Review by Abrom ★★★★★ 10

  est ce que ce film existe vraiment?

  je me suis posé cette question pendant tout le visionnage.

  Est ce que ces visages, si jeunes et pourtant marqué par la vie comme un vieillard, qui regarde dans le vide leur rêve disparaitre. Est ce qu'ils existent?

  Est ce que cette ville, si sale, avec sa fumée et sa terre qui enferme les personnages dans leur désespoir. Est ce qu'elle existe ?

  Est ce que ce montage et cette mise en scène, qui comme la mélodie qui assaille le spectateur pendant tout le métrage, qui fait ressentir au spectateur ce sentiment de malaise mêlé et d'angoisse, mais qui baigne dans un espoir permanent. Est-ce qu'elles existe?

  Je ne sais pas en réalité...

  Mais si il n'existe pas, alors je viens de faire le plus beau rêve de toutes ma vie.