First off I find it very interesting that they include information on where the photographs were actually taken and all sorts of contextual “behind the scenes” information, how intriguing. That is interesting to me that they would do that. This is a relic from a time where film was not always about pure entertainment, there was no culture of film restricting the creative freedom of the artist, they felt that including that information was important to the viewers experience, and whether it is or not is irrelevant, the artist was freer to produce their work of art without the longstanding cultural and social limitations on what is considered entertaining. This is great and were only 45 seconds in. I see now that the information is simply been added after the original film was produced and enjoyed, but instead of deleting the thoughts I had I’ll just add onto them. The lack of sound is oddly satisfying, there’s not even the scratchy sound we associate with old movies. It really means that it’s up to the actor to act well, and the viewer to view well if that makes sense, as the viewer you really need to be watching and trying to understand with only visual data. I enjoy the more immersive film experience however novel and mentally taxing it may be. The train in the background is real which caught my attention. You assume those to be fake nowadays with the advent of studio filming, but I was surprised to see a literal train pulling up and them literally interacting with that train in “real time” one continuous scene without editing breaks. The shakiness of the camera as the train literally rolls down the track with the actors on top. That is not something you often see in modern film because of the absurd lengths actors need to go to entertain us (action movies) practical effects are often impractical (Ironically). The lack of such flashy media is refreshing. The deaths are clearly fake, no need for explicit violence in. they are almost comical as in when the very obvious doll was thrown off the train as opposed to an actual person. It was clearly fake which is in stark contrast with modern realism. I also get the sense that cultural context at the time would be really helpful in understanding the underlying messages of the film if there are any. Perhaps this was simple entertainment no need to convey a profound deep meaning, no need to awe you with flashy effects and bloody violence, just a group of people telling a story through film, acting, and real human interactions.
