This film is largely of technical interest. In the 1920s, two-strip Technicolor -- as opposed to the three-strip variety that became standard in the late 1930s -- was usually used for set pieces within a major movie: the endpieces of Keaton's SEVEN CHANCES, the triumphal march in BEN HUR and the masked ball in PHANTOM OF THE OPERA among the best known. Only a few features were made using two-strip technicolor, most successfully in Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s THE BLACK PIRATE.
Because of the technical difficulties in shooting in technicolor -- high intensity lights were needed, as well as careful color choices -- the high costs of producing prints -- up to five times that of black and white -- and the fragility of the prints, a technicolor movie in this era was usually noteworthy because of its use of technicolor. That is one problem with this movie.
The other problem with this movie is that it is shot largely as a series of tableaux, little more than still shots of interesting scenes. Film enthusiasts will recognize the use of this technique in Griffith's BIRTH OF A NATION. Given the subject matter, the mythic characters used, the subject of the film and the technical problems described above, THE FLAG becomes little more than a museum piece, a film that is technically fascinating, but of little value as a movie.
This piece has been restored recently, with a new score by Vivek Maddala. Mr. Maddala has done three scores for silent pictures that have been shown on TCM. He uses a lot of atonal flourishes here and I feel the result here overwrought. This may be appropriate, given the other issues and, indeed, the purpose of the film, but there you go. The movie remains an interesting museum piece, but it will never make my list of all-time classics.
Because of the technical difficulties in shooting in technicolor -- high intensity lights were needed, as well as careful color choices -- the high costs of producing prints -- up to five times that of black and white -- and the fragility of the prints, a technicolor movie in this era was usually noteworthy because of its use of technicolor. That is one problem with this movie.
The other problem with this movie is that it is shot largely as a series of tableaux, little more than still shots of interesting scenes. Film enthusiasts will recognize the use of this technique in Griffith's BIRTH OF A NATION. Given the subject matter, the mythic characters used, the subject of the film and the technical problems described above, THE FLAG becomes little more than a museum piece, a film that is technically fascinating, but of little value as a movie.
This piece has been restored recently, with a new score by Vivek Maddala. Mr. Maddala has done three scores for silent pictures that have been shown on TCM. He uses a lot of atonal flourishes here and I feel the result here overwrought. This may be appropriate, given the other issues and, indeed, the purpose of the film, but there you go. The movie remains an interesting museum piece, but it will never make my list of all-time classics.