Film: The Soul of Youth

Although we didn't quite know what we were getting ourselves into before watching this, a silent film, it's pretty safe to say that everyone who took the risk was glad they did so.

Filmed in the 1920s, The Soul of Youth is about a young orphan trying to grow up in a tough society - and for something almost 90 years old it does a good job of tackling the issues faced in those (and indeed current) days. Plot-wise it was a bit thin, but it was put together wonderfully - it was easily one of the best black and white films I've ever seen. The whole thing was so charming and touching, and not just because it was a silent film.

Speaking of which, as for being a silent movie (my first anyway) you hardly notice that there's no spoken dialogue after a while and a live piano accompaniment was something everyone needs to experience.

I managed to catch this as part of The Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival, but it's out on DVD if you wanted to check it out yourself. You'll miss out on the live music, but the film is good enough to stand on it's own anyway; and as an aside IMDB even has a page for it! Recommended.