The Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Sergei Eisenstein's classic about the maritime uprising that was a catalyst for the Bolshevik Revolution.  Cause of mutiny?  A pot of spoiled soup.

Tensely mounted sequences of rebellion aboard the Potemkin spill onto the shore of Odessa, as villagers, sympathetic to the revolution, take up against their oppressors.  Well-shot, tightly edited, and propagandist to the bone, Potemkin is another fascinating silent film that was far ahead of its time.  (I could even forgive--though just barely--a grossly manipulative sequence involving a baby rolling down a flight of stairs in its carriage, as the Odessa massacre carries about on all sides.)  Still, I'm dubious about the film's merit as one of the greatest ever made.

Might be of interest to those partial to Russian history.

1925; starring Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barsky; directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein; 75 min; Not Rated; silent w/ Russian cue cards translated into English.  

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

[Note: Re-edited for brevity and sense.]

For the second time in a week, I have been profoundly moved by this great film.  One of the best I've ever seen.  Passion contains the most astonishing performance ever captured on celluloid, by Renee Falconetti as Joan of Arc during her heresy trial. Vastly ahead of its time, full of intricate camera work.  The Criterion DVD carries an alternate score, created for the film, that adds another layer of power to the narrative.  See it silent, as well, for an entirely different, more intimate, experience.

Powerful, a monumental achievement, and a defining moment for me.

(See also Carl Th. Dreyer's Vampyr (1932), an incredible silent horror film.)

1928; starring Renee Falconetti; directed by Carl Theodore Dreyer; 82 min; Not Rated; silent w/ French cue cards translated into English.