Orphans of the Storm (1921)
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Orphans of the Storm Movie Review
Orphans of the Storm is a 1921 silent historical drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish. It’s an overlong, but very strong, wonderful movie.
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“Women will be your downfall, Danton“
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Two orphaned sisters are caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution, encountering misery and love along the way. Let’s break the story down first. It’s very good, not excellent, but mostly quite strong. It in particular succeeds as a powerful historical picture owing to its impressive technical aspects and an epic feel to it that is evident throughout the flick.
It has its fine romantic elements which are very good, though unfortunately underused as more could have been done with that. But in terms of drama and spectacle, it succeeds wildly. My favorite parts are the beginning and the ending which are so amazing that they make the rest of the movie look much inferior in comparison.
The third act is basically a courtroom drama where all of these French aristocrats finally receive their comeuppance, and it was gloriously entertaining to watch and very emotionally rewarding, including that tearjerker of an ending.
But I find that first act easily the best part of the entire movie, especially the opening itself. The two babies on the steps of Notre Dame and a poor man who takes them both. That is the powerful imagery that movies are made for, and that scene is easily the most strikingly cinematic and timeless moment here.
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It’s a shame then that the second act was so much inferior. I am of course talking about less memorable scenes, and some even repetitive ones or overdrawn sequences as well. Also, some of the developments in terms of plot progress felt a bit soapy, at least to me.
The main problem then lies in the length which is incredibly long at two and a half hours, and needlessly so in that overly extended, less interesting second act. As is the case with most Griffith movies, he proudly relished excess and this was no different. The pacing overall could have been much better, though the editing is reliably terrific, at times even very impressive.
Speaking of Griffith, his direction is fantastic, there is no denying that. Although this is not my favorite movie of his, it comes close to his great achievements for sure. He was one of the best directors of his time which is evident in the impressively artistic work that he put into this flick.
Lillian Gish is as amazing as she always is. She was absolutely wonderful here, and she sold all of her emotional moments. But Dorothy Gish, her real life sister, is stupendous as well. And simply the fact that the two sisters also played sisters lent a lot of emotional credibility into the two’s shared sequences which are usually the best scenes in the film.
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Orphans of the Storm is a technical marvel. It’s not groundbreaking in any way as Griffith had made similarly epic movies in the previous decade, but still the production design is stunning with amazing, very realistic sets throughout. The costumes are also lovely, and all of the action in the film is very well executed. The film could be very entertaining at times, but still it needed a shorter runtime.
Orphans of the Storm is inferior in its prolonged and less interesting second act, but the ending is fantastic and the beginning is particularly cinematic and very memorable. The whole film is very well acted by the two Gish sisters, superbly directed by Griffith and filled with memorable plot points, an epic feel to it and splendid sets and costumes.
