Anna Christie. 1923. Directed byJohn Griffith Wray.

(12/24/99)

I had seen this film before and been really moved by it. Watching it again I find than it is different than I had remembered. I thought that the father had sent Anna to live with relatives in Minnesota. What actually happened is that Anna's mother had taken her there and then years later she dies, leaving Anna at the mercy of cruel relatives. It's a slight difference, but important. I thought that the father had actively sent her away, thinking that it was much better for her than staying with him. In truth, he did it passively--not bringing her to live with him after her mother died.

I also thought that it was more emphasized that Anna thought her father didn't want her. This is actually mentioned, but only in passing. So the film I had remembered about a terrible mistake and a daughter who didn't realize how much herfather loved her was partly a creation of my own mind. And yet it was woven from the cloth of this film.

I love George F. Marion's performance and think that it works so well in a silent film because it is done through gesture. His gestures are so tender. I can see now that he could be accused of being "hammy" and overacting. I think it's a matter of preference--either his performance works for you or it doesn't. For myself, there is something about him that really gets to me.

Maybe his gestures are justified because we are dealing with a basically inarticulate man. He is not particularly verbal and so much goes unsaid. I find myself thinking about the things he should have said at the crucial moments--but doesn't. So it seems fitting that his love and caring is expressed through the body.

One thing I noticed tyhis time around was how Anna changes when she gets on the boat. She comes alive; she blooms. It's so obvious that she belongs on the sea and marrying a sailor would be the most natural thing in the world for her.

The film opens in Sweden and we see Anna as a small child. It's obviously an attempt to "open up" the play, but Anna is an adorable child and seeing her like that has an impact on our feelings for her. When we next see Anna she is hard and drained, but when she gets on the boat and comes alive she is more like what that child was meant to be when she grew up.

The last time I saw this film I didn't like the flashback which took us out of the scene. It worked better for me this time. It is hard to keep life in a film when the story is confined to one place for a long period--even more so when the film is silent. So the flashback appropraitely broke that up.

Things really don't seem to be resolved at the end. It didn't look as if Matt and Chris made up. Chris says, "It's not your fault, Anna," but at the end he is outside of the doorway looking in at the embracing couple and you can tell he's not really happy about the situation. The two men will have a long voyage to get used to each other, but it's still a more downbeat ending than I had remembered.