The Nihilist

An old man is arrested and dragged from his family. He is whipped and collapses. Despite his family's pleas, he is exiled to Siberia, but dies on the journey. His children become revolutionary Nihilists and take their vengeance.

Directed by "The Old Man" of Biograph, Wallace McCutcheon Sr., this movie is an elaborate and well-presented example of the Illustrated Text style of movie-making at its height. Simple titles, usually no more than half a dozen words, describe what the audience will see, then the action follows, often a shockingly ironic variation on what a polite audience might expect -- but a sad and maddeningly accurate representation to the lower-class and often foreign-born nickelodeon audience.

The camera work is straightforward and primitive, front row center and still, and the sets are clearly painted backdrops. It's not cinematic in the modern sense, but it is clearly a highly effective and politically charged work for the year it was made.

This short feature has an interesting story and is reasonably well-crafted for its era. The story is fairly involved for a one-reeler, and there is easily enough material for a much longer feature. Indeed, it would have been better at several times its length, but in 1905 there was probably not yet much of a feel as to how much material you could effectively fit into 10 minutes of running time.

The story dramatizes the experiences of a family whose father is arrested as a political enemy by the tsarist police, and it is quite a grim, tense scenario. If the characters had been developed more fully, it could have been quite compelling. Most of them have indistinct personalities, and usually they are only identifiable by their clothing. Once again, it would not be long before some standard techniques would make this part of film-making more creative.

As it is, the story is still interesting, is told fairly well, and with more personal identification with the characters it could have been even more affecting. The film's overall quality is a little hard to determine, because the print (at least on video) is in bad shape in many places. Some of the settings are rather detailed, and there is plenty of action. It's worth seeing for those who like these early features.