Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)"La Revue des Revues" must surely count as one of the most unusual and perhaps unique films from the silent era, being more of a 1927 cabaret show than an actual traditional silent film. In fact, you could well be excused for thinking that you are watching a contemporary albeit somewhat other-worldly music and dance show most of the time, thanks to the Pathe stencil technique used to colour the twenty or so revue scenes in this 100-minute film. Coming just a few years after an entire full-length film was colourized in this time-consuming Pathe stencil process, namely for "Cyrano de Bergerac", the colourful dance scenes in "La Revue des Revues" are definitely the highlight of this film even today, ¾ of a century later. Unlike filming in colour using coloured filters, the stencil process gives the picture a soft, pastel tone like watercolour which is easy on the eye while also giving it a touch of the surreal. This is especially notable in the gold and other shimmery metallic colours of some costumes and curtains. There are opening title cards introducing the name of each revue as well as the names of the performers so that watching this film is really like stepping back into time to experience the famous (or infamous!) Jazz Age of `gay Paris' in its notorious nightclubs of 1927.The modern-sounding original musical score is Jazz in many varying styles, and although not authentic from that period, is still quite well suited to the dances, setting and overall mood. No doubt it will have varied reactions from viewers and might take some getting used to at first, especially when it accompanies the rest of the actual silent film, but it might become more acceptable when viewed as something of an historic time capsule capturing the essence of the nightclub shows in Paris 80 years ago. Personal musical tastes aside, the many spectacular and colourful dance scenes, often with outrageous hats and costumes, are really something to see, as well as being an education in general, and surely also a treat especially for those interested in dance and entertainment.
One note of disappointment might be the misleading credits which give the impression that the highest paid music hall entertainer, Josephine Baker, features prominently in this film, while in fact she only appears in two rather short revues that appear over an hour into the film. Even so, it is worth the wait to see what all the fuss was about, and why this long-legged, exotic dark beauty became such a huge star. Some of her unusual dance moves are slightly reminiscent of Michael Jackson's `moonwalk'. The main character in the actual film - which are the black & white scenes with intertitles - stars a blonde actress named Helene Hallier who plays the role of an average young woman working a dull job in a clothes factory but dreams of being on stage one day. She gets her big break when her small feet are the right size for some Cinderella-style slippers, and just like the fairytale, she finds love and success thereafter, but not before a few little hiccups. The actual story is rather short and superficial, and basically only serves as the foundation to present the many varied revue shows, long and short, exotic, bizarre and amusing, but always thoroughly entertaining and surely also fascinating for us in our day to see these shows pretty much as they were back in 1927. It is for this reason, its unique nature and beautifully coloured `blast from the past' that I give this DVD 5 stars.
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