Blue Bird

I had no idea what to expect from "The Blue Bird" at first, but knew I would like it simply because it was directed by Maurice Tourneur, whose prior studies in Art back in France gave his films a beautiful and special artistic quality, and placed him as an important director in the early pioneering days of cinema. The few Tourneur films I had seen already, however, did not prepare me for the exquisite charm and delight of "The Blue Bird", and the more I watched this film, the more I was impressed. There are two main aspects that struck me most: firstly, "The Blue Bird" is visually beautiful and delightful, with attention to photography, lighting and not in the least some special effects and sets that give the entire film a fairytale feeling. Far from being a mere children's fairytale, however, the second impressive aspect of this film is the depth of spiritual meaning in the story itself, which was originally written by Maurice Maeterlinck and made into a successful play in 1910. The blue bird symbolizes happiness, and two children go on a quest in a magical dream adventure to find this elusive bird. With the aid of a fairy and some magic, the children are able to see the invisible world: the soul or spirit of everyday things like water, bread and fire, as well as seeing the inner spirit of their pet dog and cat, their mother, and souls of children who have died and are yet to be born. They are also shown the luxuries, such as `eating when not hungry and drinking when not thirsty', and by the end of their journey the children learn how to recognize and value the things around them, and the moral of the story is that happiness is first to be found right near you - not in the chasing of faraway, elusive dreams.

The bonus material on this DVD has extensive excerpts from the 1910 play for anyone who'd like to compare and go further in-depth, as well as an easy-to-read biography and filmography of Maurice Tourneur. Several scenes in "The Blue Bird" reminded me of "The Wizard of Oz", such as when bread and sugar, as well as the dog and cat take on human form and accompany the children on their dream-like journey. Everything is even more impressive when you keep in mind that this film was made in 1918, and features a high standard of production, including beautiful, artistic intertitle cards. Although there are several minutes here and there when the film shows some damage and deterioration, the overall excellent production, enhanced by a beautiful, calming classical music score, easily outweighs this flaw, and together with its deeply meaningful and inspirational theme, I think it well deserves 5 stars and an important place in a silent film collection.

If you mention the name Tourneur (tour-NURR) to most film aficianados they will say Jacques Tourneur (1904-1977) the director of the film noir classic OUT OF THE PAST and several Val Lewton horror films such as CAT PEOPLE and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE. But before Jacques there was his father Maurice Tourneur (1873-1961) who was one of the major directors of the silent era. He came to the U.S. in 1912 and made a number of major films until 1926 when studio interference drove him back to France where his career continued but was never quite the same. Until recently he was long overshadowed by his son because so many of his films were unavailable. Now that is being rectified with the release in the last few years of many of his silent classics (see VICTORY, THE WISHING RING, and THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS).

Two brand new releases are LORNA DOONE and this first and best version of Maurice Maeterlinck's allegorical play THE BLUE BIRD. Tourneur was one of the great visual stylists of the silent era and nowhere is that more apparent than here. The film is a combination of realistic and deliberately stylised elements that draw on Tourneur's former theatrical background. This mixing of styles confused audiences of 1918 and the film, though critically praised, was not a success. Even today it takes some getting used to but if you make the effort THE BLUE BIRD has its share of rewards.

The print used for this DVD comes from the George Eastman House and is a restored version of an old VHS version released through Grapevine Video. It too features the original 1918 color tints and is in much better shape though parts of the film still retain some damage but not enough to ruin the viewing experience especially for silent film enthusiasts. The new score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra is well performed and has a great deal of charm, but I would have preferred something a little more ethereal during the fantasy scenes to enhance the unreal quality.

For those of you who don't know the story, it follows the efforts of two children to find the blue bird of happiness by going on a journey into the past and future. They are accompanied by the living souls of their pets and ordinary household objects. After many adventures in fantastic locales, they discover that it was at home all along (sound familiar?). Unlike THE WIZARD OF OZ there are philosophical and theosophical points to be made along the way. After all this was a major work by one of the most popular writers of the pre-World War I era. One of the special DVD features includes written excerpts of the original play for you to check out.

Although remade twice (1940 with Shirley Temple and in 1976 in a fabled Russian-American disaster directed by George Cukor), this version remains the closest to Maeterlinck's intentions. That coupled with Maurice Tourneur's imaginative touches and delicate direction make this a classic that's great to have back in circulation. If you prefer reality to fantasy check out Tourneur's just released LORNA DOONE. It is one of the great historical romance films of any era.

Tourneur was a director of great visual imagination--but how do you show this in a film that has chemical decomposition and even blistering running down its center through roughly half its length? Add to that several lengthy missing scenes in the middle, and a few missing shorter sequences elsewhere, and you've got a problem getting the essence of the man's vision across to even veteran archival film lovers who can accept a good quality print of Griffith. I enjoyed it, but I was willing to work through all the screen garbage to see some of the beauty that was buried, there. My wife just rubbed her eyes.

So kudos to the Eastman folks for holding this print, and making it available, and to the music team for creating such a sympathetic score. But nobody restored this work, and Kino took its usual cheap way out of extras by simply printing on screen a laudatory review from the original film's opening, and a couple of acts from the original play. Not a commentary in sight, or bios of the director, or actors, or listing of Tourneur's films.

So cavaet emptor: consider The Blue Bird for purchase only if you don't mind owning a heavily damaged, somewhat incomplete version of the film, in the likelihood no one will do for it what has been done for many other films of its vintage. I'm hoping this version will be superceded in the near future.

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