Broken Blossoms (1919 film)
 Theatrical release poster | ||
| Starring |
| |
| Directed by | D. W. Griffith | |
| Produced by | D. W. Griffith | |
| Editing by | James Smith | |
| Cinematography | G.W. Bitzer | |
| Distributed by | United Artists | |
| Released | May 13, 1919 in New York City, Premiere Oct 20, 1919 | |
| Runtime | 90 minutes | |
| Country | U.S. | |
| language | Silent film with English intertitle | |
| Budget | $88,000 | |
| Gross | $600,000 (U.S.) | |
Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl, often simply called Broken Blossoms, is a 1919 American silent melodrama film directed by D. W. Griffith. It was distributed by United Artists and premiered on May 13, 1919. The film stars Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, and Donald Crisp, and tells the story of a young girl, Lucy Burrows, who is abused by her alcoholic prizefighting father, Battling Burrows, and meets Cheng Huan, a kind-hearted Chinese man who falls in love with her. It was the first film distributed by United Artists. The story is based on Thomas Burke's short story "The Chink and the Child" from the 1916 collection Limehouse Nights. In 1996, Broken Blossoms was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
Plot
Cheng Huan leaves his native China because he "dreams to spread the gentle message of Buddha to the Anglo-Saxon lands." His idealism fades as he faces the brutal reality of London's gritty inner city. However, his mission is finally fulfilled through his devotion to the "broken blossom" Lucy Burrows, the beautiful yet unwanted and abused daughter of boxer Battling Burrows.
After being beaten and discarded one evening by her enraged father, Lucy finds sanctuary in Cheng's home—the beautiful and exotic room above his shop. As Cheng nurses Lucy back to health, they form a bond as two outcasts rejected by society. Everything falls apart when Lucy's father learns of her whereabouts and, in a drunken rage, drags her home to punish her. Fearing for her life, Lucy locks herself inside a closet to escape her contemptuous father.
By the time Cheng arrives to rescue Lucy, whom he innocently adores, it is too late. Lucy's lifeless body lies on her modest bed, while Battling has a drink in the other room. Cheng gazes at Lucy's youthful face, which, despite the circumstances, radiates innocence and even the faintest hint of a smile. Battling enters the room to make his escape. The two stand silently for a long moment, exchanging spiteful glances, until Battling lunges at Cheng with a hatchet. Cheng retaliates by shooting Burrows repeatedly with his handgun. After returning home with Lucy's body, Cheng builds a shrine to Buddha and takes his own life with a knife to the chest.
Storyline from IMDb
Cheng Huan is a missionary whose goal is to bring the teachings of peace by Buddha to the civilized Anglo-Saxons. Upon landing in England, he is quickly disillusioned by the country's intolerance and apathy. He becomes a storekeeper of a small shop. Through his window, he sees the young Lucy Burrows. She is regularly beaten (by her prize-fighter father), underfed, and she wears ragged clothes. Even in this deplorable condition, Cheng can see that she is a priceless beauty, and he falls in love with her from afar. On the day that she faints in front of his store, he takes her in and cares for her. With nothing but love in his heart, he dresses her in silks and provides food for her. Still weak, she stays in his shop that night, and Cheng watches over her. The peace and happiness that he sees last only until Battling Burrows finds out that his daughter is with a foreigner.
Themes
If Lillian Gish's performance in *Broken Blossoms* is considered among her greatest film roles, then Richard Barthelmess's performance is its perfect complement. Cheng Huan is portrayed as a deeply reverent and compassionate man, whose love for peace is matched only by his love for beauty. He finds both qualities when he shelters Lucy from Burrows's savageries. In the end, he is corrupted by the forces that surround him... Too late to save Lucy, too late to save even himself, he throws himself into a difficult struggle with determination and courage—his final and ultimate sacrifice to Lucy and their spiritual happiness.
Film historian Paul O'Dell, (Griffith and the Rise of Hollywood (1970))
- Cruelty and injustice against the innocent are a recurring theme in Griffith's films and are graphically portrayed here. The introductory card says, "We may believe there are no Battling Burrows, striking the helpless with brutal whip, but do we not ourselves use the whip of unkind words and deeds? So, perhaps, Battling may even carry a message of warning."
Broken Blossoms was released during a time of intense anti-Chinese sentiment in the U.S., a fear known as the Yellow Peril. The term "Yellow Peril" was often used in U.S. newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst.[22] It was also the title of a popular book by a prominent U.S. religious figure, G. G. Rupert, who published The Yellow Peril; or, Orient vs. Occident in 1911. Griffith altered Burke's original story to promote a message of tolerance. In Burke's story, the Chinese protagonist is a troubled young Shanghai drifter pressed into naval service, who visits opium dens and brothels; in the film, he becomes a Buddhist missionary whose initial aim is to spread Buddha's teachings and peace (although he is also shown visiting opium dens when he feels down). Even at his lowest, he prevents his gambling friends from fighting.
Broken Blossom might have been merely a subtly lighted, skillfully directed slum melodrama [but] was lifted into a world of aesthetic purity and clarity, so that the audience went away uplifted as well as terrified.
The "closet scene"
The most-discussed scene in Broken Blossoms is Lillian Gish's "closet" scene. Here, Gish performs Lucy's horror by writhing in the claustrophobic space like a tortured animal who knows there is no escape. There is more than one anecdote about the filming of the "closet" scene, Richard Schickel writes:
- It is heartbreaking – yet for the most part quite delicately controlled by the actress. Barthelmess reports that her hysteria was induced by Griffith's taunting of her. Gish, on her part, claims that she improvised the child's tortured movements on the spot and that when she finished the scene there was a hush on stage, broken finally by Griffith's exclamation, "My God, why didn't you warn me you were going to do that?"
The scene is also used to demonstrate Griffith's uncanny ability to create an aural effect with only an image. Gish's screams apparently attracted such a crowd outside the studio that people needed to be held back.
Remakes
- A UK remake, also titled Broken Blossoms, followed in 1936. It was remade in Japan twice, both set in Yokohama's Chinatown.
- A 1959 version was known as 戦場のなでしこ (Senjō no Nadeshiko, Nadeshiko on the Battlefield), directed by Teruo Ishii for Shintoho.
External links
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Broken_Blossoms_(1919_film) ]
- Broken Blossoms on YouTube Closet and axe scene at T:01:17:00
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