While The Blue Bird (1918) was critically lauded in its day, I feel it has not held up especially well, and even by the standards of 1910s cinema, it's much too obsessed with whimsical allegory at the expense of the story and characters.
The special effects and costuming are top notch, but I just wish the filmmakers had better material to use it for. The plot is more obsessed with analyzing symbols and allegories, not that I have a problem with those devices, but if the story is not compelling, then it's all just a aesthetically pleasing bore. Fairy tales and such stories should not just spend their time explaining themselves to the audience; it's up to us to do the analysis.
There are other positives, like the charming child leads, but once again, they aren't given good material to work with, and that's a shame given the talent involved with The Blue Bird.
The special effects and costuming are top notch, but I just wish the filmmakers had better material to use it for. The plot is more obsessed with analyzing symbols and allegories, not that I have a problem with those devices, but if the story is not compelling, then it's all just a aesthetically pleasing bore. Fairy tales and such stories should not just spend their time explaining themselves to the audience; it's up to us to do the analysis.
There are other positives, like the charming child leads, but once again, they aren't given good material to work with, and that's a shame given the talent involved with The Blue Bird.