Children of No Importance - Gerhard Lamprecht (1926)
A socially conscious melodrama about three poor children, who we learn were all born out of wedlock, living with foster parents who do not offer them the proper care, and what fate has in store for each of them.
Since narratives emerged in cinema, the realist origins of actualities were thrown aside in favour of expressionism and this sort of proscenium arch framing that reminded the audience that they were watching a film.
Well, Gerhard Lamprecht had no interest in that sort of escapism. He brought it all back home with stories based in real streets detailing real lives. Where people walked in and out the frame willy nilly as if they weren't performers pleasing an audience, but people just trying to get by.
But that isn't the extent of Lamprecht's artistry though. He also uses visual metaphors and smart editing to give his story a more cinematic depth than the theatre-like aesthetics of his peers.
The man was a master of storytelling and compassion, and casting. The main child actor in here really carries the film with a face aged beyond his years, yet actions naive and child-like; the kid is a constant conflict.
Like all the best social realist pieces, this films doesn't shy away from the grimness of its scenario, but also doesn't smother us in it giving us enough humanity to come out of the other side with something new.
9/10
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