1920 - (8) Way Down East

Onwards onwards! With even more D.W.

Title: Way Down East
Instructor: D.W. Griffith
Year: 1920
Runtime (My version): 2 hrs 25 mins

Seen: Spring / Summer 2009

How i got this: Torrent, no copyrights on this one as far as I know. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Plot Outline: Anna Moore (Lillian Gish) is a young and naive girl who is tricked into a false marriage. Her mother dies soon thereafter, and her baby is born weak, and soon dies. She is now an outcast, and with no home, or hope to make a future for herself in the place she grew up, she goes looking for a job in the country.

She finds a good job in a good family, falls in love, but her past is not going to let her off the hook just yet.

First impression: This looks so boring.
But on second thought: But almost made me cry.

General comments: This movie was a real sleeper to me, meaning that it looks so darn ordinary and dull, yet suddenly makes me feel all kinds of stuff. For a defenition of the term sleeper, check this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeper_%28car%29


Lillian Gish is so unbelievably good in this movie, not only as an actress, her character is all that is good and selfless in this world. To see her fall to pieces when she is betrayed by her first love, or when her future catches up with her is simply heartbreaking. You actually want to interfere in this movie. This is one of the movies ever that has affected me the most, when i saw it. Her performance is what carries this movie, and she outshines the rest of the cast.


This is all nice and fantastic, but the movie tries to do multiple things at once. Amongst all the drama going on, there is a lot of seemingly pointless slapstick humour going on. I really don't see how this fits into the rest of this movie, but it's there, and thats just the way it is. Maybe it was to make sure that everybody who went to see this movie back in the day got something they liked, I dont know.


The ending really got my heart pumping. Filming it must have been unbelievably risky.

The movie actually made me want to be a better person. I really felt inspired to stop judging people too hard, and to always look on what is on the inside.

Music: Fits nicely into the movie.

Pictures: All good, the very last part of this move sports some almost unbelievable pictures.

Essentially this is: A story of love, and the worlds cruelty.

Why you should see this: Because it just might make you feel something.
Why you shouldn't see this: Weel, you might have to be a bit sentimental to really enjoy this one.


Honorable mention: Richard Barthelmess is quite excellent as the young David Barlett, who falls in love with Anna.

Final rating: 80% I liked this one.

BTW: Lillian Gish suffered frost-related injuries in the right hand, lasting her entire life, from the shots on the icy river.