The Land Beyond the Sunset
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Land Beyond the Sunset |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1912 |
| length | 14 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Harold M. Shaw |
| script | Dorothy G. Shore |
| production | Edison Manufacturing Company |
| occupation | |
| |
The Land Beyond the Sunset is an American drama short film . The silent film , shot in New York , premiered on October 28, 1912.
action
A poor boy named Joe tries in vain to make money selling newspapers. But it remains unsuccessful. Only one little girl gives him a voucher, which he hides in his jacket.
Joe grows up in a poor family and is raised by his grandmother. However, this regularly takes his earnings from him and treats him lovelessly. One day he sneaks out of the house and meets the Fresh Air Fund , which enables poor children to spend a day picnicking in the country. The voucher was the ticket to one of these events.
The boy spends a wonderful day with other children in the country. He is told in a fairy tale that a fairy frees a boy from the hands of a cruel witch. She takes the child to a boat that will take them to a land beyond sunset where they can live in eternal happiness.
As the rest of the children drive back into town, the boy gets into a boat lying on the bank and drifts out to sea.
background
The Land Beyond the Sunset was filmed in the Bronx and Long Island Sound . The organization of the Fresh Air Fund that appears in the film really exists, it was founded in 1877 and continues to this day. The film drama was produced by Thomas Alva Edison's film production company Edison Manufacturing Company , which at that time was already in a crisis from which it should not recover. After Edison's film studio closed, his silent films were not open to the public for many years.
reception
Silent film has seen a minor rediscovery in recent decades, which is also reflected in its inclusion in the National Film Registry in 2000. Professor Scott Simmon wrote that The Land Beyond the Sunset is an extraordinary film because it goes from a social drama to a fantasy and ultimately leads to an unclassifiable, poetic finale. While David Wark Griffith would have given his films with a similar theme as A Child of the Ghetto (1910) a sure happy ending , the end of the film by director Shaw is "ambiguous" and possibly "transcendent". It also shows that Shaw had a good eye for capturing cities and landscapes.
The film historian William K. Everson called The Land Beyond the Sunset "the first truly lyrical film in cinema history".
Web links
- The Land Beyond the Sunset in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Land Beyond the Sunset on Youtube
Individual evidence
- ^ National Film Preservation Foundation: The Land Beyond the Sunset (1912). Retrieved May 3, 2020 .
- ^ National Film Preservation Foundation: The Land Beyond the Sunset (1912). Retrieved May 3, 2020 .
- ^ Daniel Eagan: America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry . A&C Black, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8264-2977-3 ( google.de [accessed May 7, 2020]).