The Smiling Madame Beudet / La Souriante Madame Beudet (1923) :
Brief Review -
A great french expressionist silent feature and unlikely first truly feminist film. Even with unlikely probability of being first feminist drama The Smiling Madame Beudet can be termed as one at least for the French cinema. I remember watching D. W. Griffith's feminist films (in dramatic mode) made before this so i won't count it as one. The film is about a woman trapped in loveless marriage and it also explores several devastating moments from the woman's life. However, the captured version is soulless at the beginning, it gathers a solid momentum and connectivity in last 10 minutes. Those dream sequences, delusional obsession and never smiling face of the woman (even in the last frame of her) should be considered as a part of great filmmaking. And it is directed by pioneering 'avant-garde cinema' director Germaine Dulac, who, in my opinion wasn't able to put that famous non-narrative structure in this film. It was far away from intricate storytelling but that ultimately gave it an advantage to carry that it is rather more convincing and intense, exactly what the context required from it. The husband's character was well written if you see his own joke becomes the biggest turnaround of his life and at the same time the wife remains still even after wrong surmise and big tragedy. In a way i would have loved to see that much anticipated "Smile" on her face as mentioned in the title but there was not a single frame for it. Instead, it went in completely opposite direction to catch the realistic expressionism. So, yes it becomes an innovative product overall which is deservingly known by art cinema lovers and i would like to carry forward the recommendation.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest
