Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

utgard14 In Paris, a sewer worker (Charles Farrell) aspiring for more rescues a meek young woman (Janet Gaynor) from her abusive sister. The two soon fall in love but war threatens their happiness. Beautiful romantic melodrama, a silent classic, artfully directed Frank Borzage with a lovely tune ("Diane") that plays throughout. Janet Gaynor is terrific. This was one of the three films she won the first Best Actress Oscar for, and it's easy to see why. Charles Farrell is also good. Certainly better than many give him credit for. Nice sets, camera-work, great performances. Really not much I can say about this one that's bad. It's one of my favorite silent movies. One that I think still holds up well today. Remade in 1937 with Jimmy Stewart and Simone Simon. That one's not as magical as this but it does have its merits.

ackstasis 'Seventh Heaven (1927)' is usually compared to 'Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927),' and not without reason. Director Frank Borzage has a keen sense for lighting and shot composition, perhaps not as effortlessly graceful as that of Murnau, but the film superbly explores three-dimensional space, most memorably in a vertical long take that follows the characters up seven floors of staircases, and a backwards tracking shot through the crowded trenches of a battlefield. Janet Gaynor, who also starred in 'Sunrise,' is once again a perfect picture of fragility and helplessness, a persona at which she was bettered only by Lillian Gish. More interesting, however, is that Gaynor's character undergoes a startling character arc, developing from a weak, embattled victim – a trampled flower – to a decisive and assertive woman, a member of the workforce, and an independent but devoted wife. Her husband, played by Charles Farrell, likewise undergoes a transformation, of the spiritual kind. Together, they share a love so definitive that the formula has since become familiar, but Borzage keeps it fresh.Perhaps the greatest miracle about 'Seventh Heaven' is that the romance works at all. Farrell's Chico is a haughty, athletic sewer worker, so determined of his own worth that he bores his grotesque colleagues with anecdotes of his future greatness. Gaynor's Diane, a small creature routinely lashed by her sleazy sister, is at first an object of derision for Chico, who uses her mere existence to affirm his atheism. Indeed, so aloof is his attitude towards her that I could scarcely believe that the pair were to fall in love, but the transition is carried out gradually and convincingly. As in most great romances, the two star-crossed lovers are swiftly separated by the onset of war. Here, once again, Borzage's keen eye for visual storytelling results in some wonderful sequences of conflict, with his portrayal of the battlefield perhaps serving as inspiration for Lewis Milestone's war drama 'All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).' Only with the occasional moments of misplaced comedy – the ritualistic bowing of the street-sweepers, for example – does the director fumble with the film's mood.This reviewer being an atheist, films dealing with a central religious theme face an uphill battle. Chico opens the film not unlike myself, as an obstinate atheist who curses God for failing to answer his prayers. Christianity intercedes through a kind-hearted priest, who offers Chico his dream-job as a street-sweeper, as well as two religious necklaces. Predictably, our hero is converted by the film's end, and, indeed, stages a resurrection that borders on Biblical. This "miraculous" ending could easily have had me rolling my eyes, but – somehow, and against all odds – it didn't. Borzage doesn't play Chico's survival as a startling revelation, and nor does it feel tacked-on, as does the fate of Murnau's hotel doorman in 'The Last Laugh (1924).' Alongside Diane's stubborn insistence that her husband is still alive, to actually see him pushing through the crowds seemed like the most natural thing in the world. And even if Chico is dead, then his wife is already there in Heaven, on the seventh floor, waiting to greet him.

Maliejandra Kay Diane (Janet Gaynor) leads a horrible life; her sister beats her constantly for no reason and life in the slums leaves no room for escape. One day when the two are visited by their parents, a chance comes to break free from their seedy existence, but Diane is too honest to deceive them. She belies the fact that they have been far from moral. Her sister retaliates by attacking her in the street, but a good Samaritan steps in. Chico (Charles Farrell) works in the sewers and dreams of better things. He cannot stand to see a defenseless, albeit fearful, girl be abused. Unfortunately, when he stands up for Diane, he risks his forthcoming job as a street cleaner. He lies and tells the police that he and Diane are married, so she moves in with him to carry on the charade for his sake. The relationship blossoms into love, but the war comes and the two are pulled apart.This is the first time that Gaynor and Farrell were paired on the screen, and the chemistry between the two is electric. It only improved as time went on, but it is exciting to see the start of it all. Gaynor is beautiful and so petite next to the masculine presence of Farrell. He takes care of her just as much as she does him; the two represent the ideal couple, two halves that make a whole.Frank Borzage directs, and his signature touch permeates the film. The lush, soft lighting make the dirty locations seem lovely and appealing. The sparse apartment that the lovers call heaven really has a glow about it. This style lends itself perfectly to the love story and makes the more melodramatic parts forgivable in context.

Peter Fairburn There is some pedestrian acting in Seventh Heaven; furthermore, there are situations which in the world of today seem crass beyond belief. But anyone who can watch this film, with its original tints and Movietone score, without a complete sense of wonder at what film once was, and might be again if the business of films allowed, is dead emotionally and spiritually. It is no wonder Janet Gaynor won an Oscar for this, and other, film in 1927. Frank Borzage, who seems to be the forgotten director of all time, deserved sainthood for getting at least a credi8ble performance from Charles Farrell. His deft handling of the material and the camera is really astounding. His use of the helix as a symbol of re-birth, not original, is flawless and we still get fatigued walking with the two lovers up seven flights of stairs with his excellent crane shot. One suspects Lewis Milestone learned much from the war scenes and I wonder how Borzage would film Iraq, Afghanistan, or the World Trade Centre.Simply put, no cinema fan can comment intelligently on film without seeing this masterpiece. I prefer it to Sunrise, no easy thing to admit. I rate it a 9 simply because Farrell is objectionable in so many ways. But Janet Gaynor is a wonder and Frank Borzage deserves a university course of his own.