La Possession de l'enfant

La Possession de l'infant (1909)

*** (out of 4)

Melodrama about a rich father who gains custody of his child while the mother goes off in tears. Of course, the child is miserable even though he has everything in the world but after a weekend trip at his poor mother's house, the child realizes that money isn't everything and he has to convince the father that his money is evil. D.W. Griffith was making this type of melodrama in America and he certainly knew how to handle it a lot better. I will admit that I enjoyed this film because the story was nice if overly preachy and at times the melodrama was handled way too thick. Griffith did the same thing in his American films but I feel that he was a master at this sort of thing and could make it work no matter how silly it got. The ending to this film is downright embarrassing not because it's bad but because it really comes out of no where and is quite forced. Where Griffith would have made it work, Feuillade doesn't do as good a job but that shouldn't keep people away from checking this out. Again, the story is nice and we get some good visuals but just be ready for all the syrup we get.