Wings: 1927/1928

Starting my movie watching with a silent movie was easier than I had anticipated. I had never watched a full silent movie before. The closest experience I'd had to a silent film was a foreign film--both require the viewer to pay complete attention to the screen. With other movies, if I need a snack or have to reply to a text, I don't bother pausing the movie, but I had to pause Wings because missing just a few minutes might mean missing a text screen, and without those, I didn't have a full understanding of the storyline.

I will say that I was surprised by how much I could understand just from the music and the actors. The acting was definitely exaggerated: flailing arms, huge screens, dramatic crying. But what is considered over the top in present day film seems right at home in the silent film era. As a viewer, I needed the actors to exaggerate so that I understood how they felt without dialogue. What surprised me about the film the most, though, was how little narration and dialogue I was given. The text slides were sporadic, some with the one response of "OK" from Jack, who is the hero of the film. Despite these limited text slides, I could follow the storyline because of the actors and the detailed sets.

Wings is set during WWI. Jack and Mary are neighbors, and as the girl next door, Mary epitomizes wholesomeness. And naturally, she has a crush on her cute neighbor who is oblivious and thinks of Mary as a sister. Mary has to watch her crush fall for another girl, Sylvia. To further complicate the matter, Sylvia is in love with David, the rich guy. Fortunately for Sylvia, David returns her feelings. As the men leave for war, both take tokens as good luck charms: Jack takes the locket with Sylvia's picture (which was intended for David) and David takes a childhood toy.

As the movie progresses, the men start out as foes at boot camp, resolve their differences after a showdown, and bond as brothers. The plot here seems somewhat formulaic, but the ending is surprising. I figured this movie would end with the heroes returning home, matched up with the girl who is right for them. The actual ending has a tragic element I had not anticipated (but I won't spoil it for you). The shots of the war and the battle scenes between the planes are definitely impressive for the time period. The director and cinematographer did some amazing work filming the planes in motion and battling in the French sky.

The movie is long (144 minutes), but it's worth watching if you're interested in experiencing a silent film, watching a love story set during WWI, and seeing naked men's butts (seriously...full back nudity when Jack and David check in for their physicals prior to boot camp...I didn't realize that type of nudity was acceptable in film during this time).

Up next: The Broadway Melody