In the last article of Cinematic Storytelling we pointed out the main features of silent movies: a different way of acting, written dialogues, funny make-up and other peculiarities. Well, today we are going to unearth all the main genres of silent cinema. As we already stated in our last article, all the main movie genres were already born by the end of the second decade of cinema. Isn’t it fascinating? Apparently, mankind has always had the same narrative impulses from the beginning. But let’s see how silent cinema dealt with them!

1. Physical Comedy
   the silent comedies are still popular and broadly appreciated nowadays. I am pretty sure that the name Charlie Chaplin doesn’t sound new to you. He is the icon of silent cinema, or rather, the icon of cinema. He had an extremely successful and productive career thanks to his talent as a filmmaker and comedian. He is considered the master of the comedy. At the beginning of his career, Charlie Chaplin’s comedic style was based on “physical” humor. This means that the humorous effect was raised by slapsticks or clowning sketches (such as stumbling or walk with an odd stride), mime and funny faces or even stunt scenes. This kind of humor was the trend fro the comedies of the silent cinema. One of the most famous stunt-comedians was Buster Keaton and one of the most famous stunt scenes is the one performed by Harold Lloyd where he is hanging from the hands of a big clock.
2. Swashbuckler
   We can consider this genre the equivalent of modern action and spy movies. The protagonists of this movies are knights who fight for justice. Therefore, the setting is always historical and may fall everywhere between 11th and 19th century. The swordfighting is the main feature of swashbuckler movies, but also romantic elements, such as a damsel in distress, are very recurrent. Many of the plots were based on novels by Romantic authors from the 19th century. The movie which started this current is “Robin Hood” of 1913, followed by other blockbusters like “The mask of Zorro” of 1920 and “The three Musketeers” in 1921. I am sure that you know newer versions of this stories and this proves that swashbuclers are evergreen.
3. Historical
   In the silent era historical movies were held in high regard and thus involved huge productions. This means that they entailed big expenses, since great scenographies were created and many actors (and an infinite number of background actors) were hired. The ancient times were the favourite setting: ancient Greece and Troy, the Roman empire and Carthage, but also Phoenician, Persian and Egyptian civilization. For these reasons, this movies were considered epic films, highly promoted and praised. The most famous titles of this current are “Ben Hur”, american movie of 1907, and “Cabiria”, italian movie of 1914.
4. Fantasy and horror
   You might be surprised by the freshness, but also oddness, of these movies and by how much more frightful they are compared to modern horrors! The country who mastered this genre was Germany. Especially during the ’20s, Germany was going through a hard period of his history. People were worried and restless. Filmmakers managed to express these feelings on screen, creating mesmerising movies. The main features of this movies are the introspective scenographies, the impressive performances of the actors and the incredible make-up and costumes. The most famous titles are “Nosferatu” and “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”
5. Science Fiction
   The masterpiece of this current is, without any doubt, “Metropolis”. This movie inspired many successful franchise of science fiction, such as “Star Wars” and “Blade Runner”. The features wich are worth mentioning are the visionary plots and designs, with flying cars and androids, and the impressive special effects, in a time where no computer existed yet.

So, what do you think of these movies? Do you find them engaging? The only way to find out is to take a look at them!