O Passaro Azul

Its basic purpose is to remind the colors, flavors and emotions inspired by the play of Maurice Maeterlinck. Indeed, the coherence of story is a serious problem, compensanted by the admirable expresions of imagination, fantasy, a sort of ingenuity. In same measure, it is unfair to ignore the context of its aparition - the end of war, the return to peace and the enthusiasm crowning IT. And this is, maybe, the fair perspective to see it, not ignoring the performances, atmosphere, solutions for images from play. A beautiful film, maybe more a version for the familiars with play text, poetic, sweets, just realistic. So, just delightful.

The Blue Bird (1918)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Poor children Mytyl (Tula Belle) and Tyltyl (Robin Macdougall) are visited by a fairy (Lillian Cook) who takes them on a trip to see what's really important in life. THE BLUE BIRD was directed by Maurice Tourneur, a highly visionary director who actually does a very good job with the look of this film as it's certainly one of the more impressive films visually from this era. This was actually the first version of this story that I've ever seen, which is somewhat shocking considering how many there have actually been. This is basically a fantasy-adventure film as the children and the fairy go searching for the "Bluebird of Happiness" which they are hoping will cure a sick nature. The film really does seem like a darker version of THE WIZARD OF OZ and it's funny because if you've seen any early version of Oz you'll remember that many of the animals were played by humans in costumes and that's the same case here. I've read many reviews that say this makes a film look silly but I'd disagree. I'm going to guess that at the time people were very use to this practice and I'd argue that in today's time it doesn't look silly but instead it adds a surreal effect to the film. Another gimmick is that the kids are able to view the souls of various objects including fire and even bread. The visual effects here aren't ground-breaking and they're not among the best I've ever seen but they are still impressive for the time. I found the performances of the two leads to be very good as was Cook at the fairy who really gives a comforting performance. I think there are some pacing issues in the film and even at just 80-minutes the film is a little slow at times. With that said, it's still an interesting visual film and for that it's worth viewing.

Maurice Maeterlinck's wonderful play is transformed into a magical film by Maurice Tourneur, one of the masters of early cinema. Maeterlick's belief, that beauty is to be found in all things, is here given life in a film that works for adults and children.

The visuals are splendid, and the effects gorgeous (reminiscent of Melies in some scenes and German expressionism in others). And the two little children give excellent performances.

The Grapevine Video print is very good, but it does have some nitrate decomposition, which is very sad. I hope there is a pristine print of this masterpiece in an Archive somewhere - it deserves preservation.

It will remind you of the 1939 "Wizard of Oz", especially in costume and sentiment, but pre-dates it by over 20 years. An unmissable silent gem.

There seem to be only a few directors of cinema's infancy whose films are worth much attention; Maurice Tourneur is one of them. His films may not always be the most entertaining, but most of them that I've seen contain something that interests. "Alias Jimmy Valentine", for example, has major story problems, but the heist scene is outstandingly filmed for 1915. Here, too, the allegorical messages (the bluebird is happiness and such) are too sappy at times, but then there's an inspired shot or something else innovative.

The dark, flickering transfer of a deteriorated, bleeding print surely takes away from much of the visual qualities of this picture, but some of the photography and the color tinting shines through. Tourneur had some preparation for the dreamland journey of this film with the dream climax in "The Poor Little Rich Girl" of the previous year. The wonder and imagination of a child are well affected. Despite its age, the film's best element is still apparent; I think that is its awareness. Perhaps, most obviously, this film is comparable to "The Wizard of Oz" (1939), but more so to the 1914 trilogy, which Baum produced. The animal costumes are especially reminiscent, as are the cheap, but nice-looking backdrops and sets. Showing even more awareness are the trick shots in the way of a Méliès fantasy and the final shot where the boy turns to the camera and directly addresses the audience concerning the film's parable. So, to an extent, Tourneur overcomes the wear of age and the kiddy bluntness of the allegory.

If you mention the name Tourneur (tour-NURR) to most film aficianados they will say Jacques Tourneur (1904-1977) the director of the film noir classic OUT OF THE PAST and several Val Lewton horror films such as CAT PEOPLE and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE. But before Jacques there was his father Maurice Tourneur (1873-1961) who was one of the major directors of the silent era. He came to the U. S. in 1912 and made a number of major films until 1926 when studio interference drove him back to France where his career continued but was never quite the same. Until recently he was long overshadowed by his son because so many of his films were unavailable. Now that is being rectified with the release in the last few years of many of his silent classics (see VICTORY, THE WISHING RING, and THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS).

Two brand new releases are LORNA DOONE and this first and best version of Maurice Maeterlinck's allegorical play THE BLUE BIRD. Tourneur was one of the great visual stylists of the silent era and nowhere is that more apparent than here. The film is a combination of realistic and deliberately stylised elements that draw on Tourneur's former theatrical background. This mixing of styles confused audiences of 1918 and the film, though critically praised, was not a success. Even today it takes some getting used to but if you make the effort THE BLUE BIRD has its share of rewards.

The print used for this DVD comes from the George Eastman House and is a restored version of an old VHS version released through Grapevine Video. It too features the original 1918 color tints and is in much better shape though parts of the film still retain some damage but not enough to ruin the viewing experience especially for silent film enthusiasts. The new score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra is well performed and has a great deal of charm, but I would have preferred something a little more ethereal during the fantasy scenes to enhance the unreal quality.

For those of you who don't know the story, it follows the efforts of two children to find the blue bird of happiness by going on a journey into the past and future. They are accompanied by the living souls of their pets and ordinary household objects. After many adventures in fantastic locales, they discover that it was at home all along (sound familiar?). Unlike THE WIZARD OF OZ there are philosophical and theosophical points to be made along the way. After all this was a major work by one of the most popular writers of the pre-World War I era. One of the special DVD features includes written excerpts of the original play for you to check out.

Although remade twice (1940 with Shirley Temple and in 1976 in a fabled Russian-American disaster directed by George Cukor), this version remains the closest to Maeterlinck's intentions. That coupled with Maurice Tourneur's imaginative touches and delicate direction make this a classic that's great to have back in circulation. If you prefer reality to fantasy check out Tourneur's just released LORNA DOONE. It is one of the great historical romance films of any era...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.