1910-1920

Origin: Broken Blossoms was a tragic dramatic film masterpiece. It was directed by D. W. Griffith, who was seen as the master of feature films. Broken Blossoms came out in 1919 in the United States. This film was played as a silent film and was accompanied with music. It used controlled studio environments to create a more intimate setteing for the audience. The film was inspired by Thomas Burke's novel Limehouse Nights. The movie was surrounded by a lot of controversy since it explored a relationship between an American girl and Chinese man. It explored racism towards Chinese immigrants and the idea of inter-racial marriage. 

Purpose: Since it was one of the first films on racism, Broken Blossoms sparked many mixed feelings by viewers. It ventured towards the thought of inter-marriage. This developed the content which directors placed in their films. Griffith wanted to bring awareness to the unjustice going on in the U.S. This was also one of the first feature length films created for audiences. The film was theatrical-based and was filmed in only 2 sets. This was done to focus on space and time. It inspired directors that followed to attempt to make controversial films that would focus around these problems.

Value: 1910-1920 was a time where racism and mistreatment of other races was widely present. However, some people disagreed with this attitude towards other people and tried to convince people to end the injustice. For this purpose, Broken Blossoms was made. The film was surrounded around the romance between a white female and Chinese male. This was seen as uncommon at the time and was unlike most other movies of the time. Another added value is that this film began to challenge directors to lengthen films for a better experience. This is the best representation of this time period, because it shows the thoughts of the time and improvement in film.


Limitations: The film allows one to see some thoughts of the time, however it has its limits. The piece doesn't allow one to see how many people were still racist and how other races were being treated. During the time period many people were openly racist and immigrants like the Chinese were viewed as inferior to white Americans. This piece was one of the first major films to dive into the issue of racism. The voices of the American public and Chinese immigrants were included, but other races weren't given thier input.


Other Famous Movies:

• The Perils of Pauline- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVPQa-10030
• The Birth of a Nation- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEznh2JZvrI
• Intolerance- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OSibvhZrVc