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To me, this movie is perfection.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Upon first viewing this film, needless to say that I was a little more than put off. As this was the second silent film I had watched this week, and only the second ever, I was disturbed by what I can only imagine are common trends among movies of the silent film era: misogyny and racial bigotry. As in Charlie Chaplin's "The Circus", the role of the heel is played by a brutish father who mercilessly, and without any sense of remorse, admonishes and physically abuses his daughter. This is an interesting concept in the sense that this movie was made in 1919, and Chaplins in 1928, during the height of the woman's suffrage movement in America. At a time when women were striving for equality in the voting booths, it seems as though what they really should have been working towards is equality in films. The fact that all the characters in the film except the "yellow man" regard the fathers blatant abuse of his daughter with such a cavalier attitude speaks volumes as to what the prevailing thoughts on a woman's place in society should have been. That being said, overall, the movie was captivating, albeit a bit slow in getting the story moving. ]A second particular notion worth mentioning is the way in which the characters of different races regard each other. All the "yellow man" wants to do is spread his Buddhist beliefs of peace and good will to the savage Anglo-Saxons, while later on in the film a priest says that his brother is going to spread the "good word" to the oriental heathens. Such obvious disdain being portrayed on the screen is no doubt in some way indicative of the real feelings regarding foreigners that most whites had. Additionally, if you prescribe to the maxim that art imitates life, then this notion of accepted racism is even more plausible. All in all, this was an enjoyable movie apart from what was at times blatant racist dialogue and action.

This is really a timeless piece of art. I don't think this would have worked as well as a talkie. It is a timeless tale beautifully told in marvelous black and white.The story of a young idealistic man coming to London to spread the word of a peaceful religion, is disillusioned that his message is not well received and takes solace in the local opium den. Meanwhile a local girl is being abused by her aetiology father. After a beating she received she barely makes is the the shop of Cheng Huan where she collapses. Cheng nurses her back to health, but a friend of the abusive father finds her and tells the father, who comes looking for her with tragic results.This is not a grandiose movie the Griffiths epochs but is a story told close up with a small cast and use of a lot of close up shots, It all works well together making a stunning and emotional tale

As someone who has very little exposure to silent films (I know they are the basis for our cinema today), I know I'm probably sounding somewhat ignorant, but I just didn't care for it much. I found it kind of hard to get into. It was somewhat hard to follow in certain places, I felt like if you turned your head way for a second you kind of get lost. Definitely a movie you have to pay attention to. Im not a big fan of the way the movie was narrated by subtitles so often, I think it would of better more interesting for the viewer to be able to see that unfold for themselves. The one thing I can say overall that really grabbed me was the details in the sets. Great artefacts, like the Chinese pipes , decorations etc. The buildings in all scenes are extremely convincing. Great effects like with the fog and use of light. But overall I just didn't love the story for some reason. All though his love for Lucy was very touching.

An intimate portrait of Cheng Huan (Richard Barthelmess), a kind hearted Chinese man, and his love for a poor abused girl named Lucy Burrows (Lillian Gish), as well as the brutality of Battling Burrows, a sadistic prizefighter.The visual style of Broken Blossoms emphasizes the seedy Limehouse streets with their dark shadows, drug addicts and drunkards, contrasting them with the beauty of Cheng and Lucy's innocent attachment as expressed by Cheng's decorative apartment. Conversely, the Burrows' bare cell reeks of oppression and hostility. Film critic and historian Richard Schickel goes so far as to credit this gritty realism with inspiring "the likes of Pabst, Stiller, von Sternberg, and others".I found the expression of Chinese thought to be remarkable. At a time when Americans feared the "yellow peril", this paints the Chinese as peaceful and loving, in contrast with a violent America. Cheng is like a saint or martyr, taking his convictions as far as they can be taken.The "closet scene" is the most discussed part of the film, and Gish's performance as "a tortured animal" in this claustrophobic space is what makes the film memorable, and even considered by some to have horror elements. Ivan Butler, for example, claims the scene "produces an overwhelming effect of claustrophobic terror".Historically, the film is also important because it became the first film released by United Artists, the production company formed in 1919 by Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith. As any student of film knows, this company is going strong today (2010).I absolutely recommend this film to anyone who appreciates silent film. In an age dominated by German directors (Murnau, Lang, Wiese) and their Expressionist tendencies, this is a breath of fresh air.