Popular reviews

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  Review by Joe ★★★★½ 1

  If you watch a lot of movies, particularly old Hollywood movies, your conception of the past can begin to be shaped by them, so that eras before you were born start to seem encased by the Studios' big bubble (or as Mark Cousins would say, booble). This feels like a crack in that bubble, although from which side I couldn't tell you.

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  Review by sakana1 5

  The cynicism and nastiness with which The Life and Death of 9413: a Hollywood Extra launches its attacks on the American film industry is frankly thrilling in how creative and uncompromising it is, display the sort of 'fuck the man' mentality content not to burn bridges, but rather to blow them to smithereens, then burn the splinters, just for good measure.

  But the way the short expresses its fury and disgust is so jaw-droppingly creative and resourceful, with its $97 budget and narrative built of closeups, and models, and Expressionist shadow play, that, rather than ending the American careers of writer-directors Robert Florey and Slavko Vorkapich before they started, it was released in 700 theaters across the country, and both…

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  Review by Edgar Cochran ✝️ ★★★★

  With an imagery inspired by German Expressonism impactful enough to intimidate any aspiring actor to ever step into the Hollywood industry, this interesting and nearly budget-less experimental short film by Robert Florey makes a strong negative commentary against how the system does not recognize any identity of its actors (and therefore assigning a random number like any good dystopian novela would understand), sucking all possible life out of people.

  I have always said it and I'll gladly repeat it: Lack of budget pushes filmmakers to replace lack of means with creativity and/or vision. This is no exception. In general, that's a law found in silent experimental cinema. Unfortunately for the sake of the film, the lack of budget is TOO…

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  Review by Sally Jane Black 5

  Those sharp, shadowy teutonic angles are synonymous with nightmares, the tilted and cast in flickering lights suggesting that this particular dream is going to be cold, full of dread, rather than a blast of intense terror. The story told in this atmosphere is a vicious jab at Hollywood's promises of fame, fortune, and fun, taking an empathetic, working class view of the life of an extra and juxtaposing it with stardom (in a fairly blunt metaphor that is all the funnier for it). It's an exaggerated, tumultuous climb through dreams (both aspirational and oneiric) that is both tragic and amusing.

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  Review by noma ★★★★ 1

  oh, you know...
  back when taking the mickey on hollywood actually had some weight, anyway...

  the form (which is quite explicitly german expressionism) speaks volumes, and this time i'm not just talking about how pretty the shadows are, the crooked fonts are and the misshapen buildings are! no, there's a foreboding sense to the distinctly foreign (since great hollywood underneath the shadow trees wishes to use this term, we'll play ball) aesthetic choice, almost as if its presentation itself is one special way the movie wishes to make its voice heard. these moneymen and studio executives that look the same with their sanitised corporate expressions and their monotone suits, they don't care one iota about art... but they care a…

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  Review by nora ★★★★

  do you ever wake up and immediately put on a very sad experimental short from 1928 just to feel something? lol

  in all seriousness though, in addition to being a beautiful showcase of the american response to german expressionism and of gregg toland’s cinematography, it really captures the ways in which stardom seemed attainable to audiences during this time as a result of marketing in movie magazines that posited that all the people who were famous onscreen came from nothing and got lucky. watching this extra’s hopes rise and fall so intensely is so deeply sad, but the ending is strangely hopeful.

  
  (9/10 from 1928)

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  Review by teamgal ★★★½ 1

  The prequel to every film David Lynch has ever made.

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  Review by ScreeningNotes

  Early Avant-Garde: Part Five

  Inside baseball satire of the Hollywood studio system in the style of German expressionism, which unlike a lot of the other films in this series is not only quite easily comprehensible, it feels downright modern, it could have been made in 2024 without changing much of anything. Our protagonist dreams of his name in lights, but Hollywood stamps a number on his head, literally commodifying his labor, dehumanizing him in his ambition and rewarding instead the obedience and docility of its big stars and their willingness to hide their true face behind masks of artifice.

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  Review by MrTaylor ★★★★

  Quite possibly the cheapest film ever made (that I've heard of) which holds real value in the industry. For under $100, a slice of excellence is released...those days are gone.
  In Hollywood, you're just another number and people live and die by those numbers. Well, that's what this experimental picture is all about. The progression of the story shows the world through eager eyes, only to suffer. The good news is, one day your mistakes and faceless shell will be wiped away in paradise. I was pleased to see that pioneer cinematographer, Gregg Toland, played a vital part in this little project that is now so highly praised. A cautionary tale and one for the ages.

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  Review by evilbjork ★★★★

  Stunning start to finish. The art style is where this shines. It's like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari mixed with The Adventures of Prince Achmed. The theme and especially the ending feel like it had a heavy influence on Brazil. I won't spoil what it's about since it's a short, but this is a hell of a ride and a must watch.

  Added to Important Silent Films

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  Review by Zachary ★★★½ 1

  In this stunning and expressive short, Vorkapich and avant-garde French-American co-director (that's a lotta hyphens!) Robert Florey depict that hardships of an aspiring actor. It's a well-worn story trope in film, but this rendition from 1928 distills it into a haunting and creative series of images that reminds of Metropolis, as well as Dreyer's Vampyr which would release a few years later. Accompanied by a contemporary jazz score (clearly inspired by Badalamenti, a great choice for the style and subject matter) this silent short pops off the screen and shows just how much can be accomplished in a movie, even with miniscule means.

  Watch it here.

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  Review by Jim Morrow ★★★★½

  Wonderful silent short with Gregg Toland behind the camera. It has a definite Caligari edge, and in the end, I guess you have to die to get a good role.