What's good about silent films?

Question

And please don't say "nothing."

Answer 1

With silent films, the actors did a lot more "acting" and were very much more emotional. They had to be because the words that were displayed were limited and therefore more had to be drawn from the dramatic scene. In fact, most silent "sketches" were actually overacted and overdramatized to make up for what wasn't said.
And since you couldn't hear what was going on, it had to be dead on as far as the message they were conveying. Much more thought went in to the "actions" that made up the acting, because it still holds true today but even moreso then, a picture tells a thousand words. If the acting wasn't extremely compelling, then the picture failed in it's message and also the audience first became lost, immediately followed by boredom.

Answer 2

Before the movies switched to sound, they could be truly called a universal art form. They could be seen and understood by people all over the world, from sophisticated cultures to primitive societies. Once the mechanics of making movies had been refined, film-makers could, and did, make the most of the new artform. Actors learned to express the subtlest emotions in a lift of an eyebrow, a turn of a shoulder--art directors could create any world you could imagine, with basic carpentry and paint and canvas--cinematographers used light and shadow as masterfully as Rembrandt, Vermeer and DeVinci, and their cameras could go anywhere and do nearly anything; film editors could, even without sound and effects, make your pulses pound by the sheer mastery of their craft.
When sound films were finally and truly adopted as the norm of film presentation, most of what made movies great was lost or forgotten in the quest for all-talking, dialog-driven stories and subjects. The massive sound recording cameras couldn't fly and glide as they had only a few years before. The limitations on noise during shooting made special effects or on-camera spectacle extra difficult---Actors renowned for their pantomime ability now had to cope with, and depend on the power of their voices---And most importantly, talking pictures effectively bound movies to audiences that could understand the dialog. The universality, which could have meant so much to understanding between cultures, disappeared nearly overnight.
Thousands upon thousands of silent films were made, all over the world. Now only a few hundred or so remain; and several have been restored to some of their original magnificence.
A good silent film, in good condition, shown in a theater with the proper orchestral or piano/organ accompaniment, can be an amazing discovery for a viewer.
I've seen a modern audience, watching a good print of Buster Keaton's feature comedy "Steamboat Bill Jr." with an organ score in a theater, not only literally crying with laughter, but applauding and cheering Buster's adventures through the film. And I've seen a similar audience, watching John Gilbert in the World War I war drama, "The Big Parade", gasp at the realistic battle scenes, smile at the grim humor of trench life, sigh at the love that grows between Gilbert and a French girl, and sob at the tragedy of the brutal war that tears them apart...If you get the chance to watch a classic silent, realize that you'll be seeing the result of some of the top artisans of their day, working in a field they loved.

Answer 3

Lot's of things. The direction, the emotion that is displayed without words, the musical scores that aid in moving the action along, the use of early technology and the advancement of same through the years. I have watched silent films, Sunrise comes to mind, that have really moved me.

Answer 4

The people that would usually be yaking away at a regular movie, you can listen to their converstations at a silent flim.

Answer 5

to me it's more emotional. the music and the acting does the talking. you have to express a lot more and you can't use words. if you can master that, then i'd say you've got it made.

Answer 6

None of the lousy disalogue you hear in so many movies!

Answer 7

u can sleep through them easily.