Hegemony of Italian cinema In the first half of the 10s of the twentieth century, Italian cinema (along with Danish) was considered the best in the world. Films shot in luxurious scenery, with a large number of extras, most often on antique subjects were wildly popular. “Quo Vadis?” was watched in America, France, Russia and Sweden. Why do people want to watch movies like this?
The main thing that seduced viewers around the world in “Quo Vadis?” was the luxury of the painting. The Italians were not stingy when it came to cinema. The costumes and decorations delighted the audience.
The film was staged on a very popular in those years novel by Henryk Senkevich, which, of course, also quite warmed the interest of the public. And, in the end, antique plots were popular on their own. The action of such pictures most often takes place in Rome - Italians had the opportunity to shoot in real places of development of events.
The filming involved real lions, which also caused audience delight. The scene of Ursa’s fight with the bull made a strong impression – people were so amazed and therefore closed their eyes to the fact that the bull that ran into the arena was different in color from the one that Urs defeated.
The modern audience often sins about bad acting in silent films - this is wrong. Just then there was another school – actors had to use facial expressions and gestures to convey what they could not say with words. Hence theatricality. This is not a minus - the actors were on top , just this is the difference between films of different eras.
The characters of the main characters are perfectly drawn. This made the audience more attached to them, more worried about them. Particularly striking was the giant Urs, who defended the fragile League.
The events in the film unfold with rapid speed. On the one hand, the film lacks tranquility. On the other hand, it looks on one breath, which will surely make it easier for the viewer, not yet accustomed to full-length silent dramas.
The film is beautiful, the plot captures, the heroes empathize... Even now, it is not difficult to appreciate this picture. What to say about the furor that she made at the time of the premiere.
9 out of 10