Fights of Nations

It's difficult to know what to say about this bizarre little film: offensive, xenophobic, comical, and incredibly simplistic probably sums it up. It would be easy to consider it a comedy, but somehow I think the makers were attempting to stir some kind of nationalistic pride amongst the melting pot of immigrants that would sit on the benches of the nickelodeons. America is civilised and genteel, the rest of the world violent and primitive, partial to romancing women and drinking alcohol and solving all its disputes with fists and knives. This one's really too pathetic to even be amusing, and even its age and the common ideology of the era in which it was made fails to absolve it.

All reviews say: xenophobic, insulting, racist, offensive... Well, i disagree and it's another sad proof that today minds are poor, see evil everywhere and most of all are dumb enough to don't understand fun, comedy! It's a fact that people all over the world don't live the same way, don't react identically. Idiots call that stereotypes, i call that differences. Is it a crime to make fun with the differences? for me, no: fun is an human trait that for one time exist in everyone: rocks don't laugh, neither dogs, neither plants: it's a true gift we have as humans so everything that can make us laugh is good to take! Is it a crime to tell a joke by tackling people? For me, no: that's the nature of the joke to be absurd, grotesque, to mock but that's the way because it's not REAL! Idiots don't understand that people can speak on two levels: fun or serious. Speeches of Hitler were serious so people were worthy to say xenophobic, insulting, racist, offensive... This movie is just fun and we must receive it for that and says either it's funny or it's dumb. Myself, i admit that i didn't understand Mexico-Spain, Scotland, NYC but Hebrew and Sod was quite funny: the first was a bit like our classic Rabbi Jacob, the second was similar to old video game when opponents come from everywhere! The final peaceful reunion in America is just so proud that it needs nothing else to be funny!

I ran across this film while searching the National Achieves on-line for Bojangles and was able to download the entire film. The film is several vignettes of slap stick presentation of racial stereotypes. We are treated to murderous Mexicans, conniving Jews, brawling Irish, bloodthirsty Scots, an Indian, and even Uncle Sam. This little black and white silent feature is an interesting look, especially in that we really don't know what we are seeing. Is this what it first appears - a racist comedy that shows a disdain for all non-WASPs? Is the final scene depicting most of the cast (except the dancing Negros) working together to show that America is a melting pot? We don't know, but we do know it is interesting to look at perceptions of inner city America 100 years ago. Have our perceptions of these groups really changed and...why not?

Fights of Nations is an absurd and entertaining little film in five parts. It appears to attempt to demonstrate that though people in every country fight, they all come together happily in the United States. The parts are as follows: "Mexico and Spain", "Our Hebrew Friends", "Hoot Mon! A Scottish Combat", "Sunny Africa, Eighth Avenue New York", "Sons of the Ould Sod", and finally, "America, Land of the Free". The actors in each of the first four scenes engage in little spats which don't necessarily end peacefully, but in the fifth, people from different countries and backgrounds all join together with Uncle Sam. Fights of Nations comes off as vaguely xenophobic and insulting to other countries and cultures, which is probably to be expected considering the era in which it was made and the content it's tackling.

I wish I were able to simply say "I believe with the other review", but IMDb has a minimum number of lines for reviews. However, Devotchka's review really did do a wonderful job of summarizing this film from 1907. For this era, the production values are very good and the film is quite long by the standards of the day. However, the film suffers from being too stagy and also pretty insulting in how it seems to portray the various ethnic groups. And since the video doesn't have inter-title cards (this didn't come into vogue until a few years later), the exact meaning behind the film is a tad vague. It probably does mean that all these peoples can come to America and learn to get along thanks to Good Old Uncle Sam, or it could mean that foreigners are jerks--a not exactly 'politically correct' sentiment but one that would have found a more receptive audience in that era! Whichever it is (or even a third alternative), the film is an interesting relic but not among the better films of the time--however, you'll probably like it if you want to see people punching each other