The Wind (1928)
A genteel young Virginian moves to her cousin's isolated Texas ranch, where the relentless wind, an unwanted marriage, and a predatory rancher's advances push her toward a desperate act and the edge of madness.
Directed by Victor Sjöström and starring Lillian Gish in one of her most physically punishing roles, The Wind is now regarded as one of the great achievements of silent cinema, though MGM shelved it for a year and softened its ending as talking pictures took over the industry. It was selected for the National Film Registry in 1993.
Background
The Wind gave Lillian Gish one of the most physically demanding roles of her career, playing a genteel young woman transplanted to an isolated Texas ranch where the constant, howling wind becomes almost a character in its own right, contributing to her mental unraveling. Swedish director Victor Sjöström, known in Hollywood at the time under the name Victor Seastrom, used large wind machines on set to create a relentless, exhausting physical environment for the actors.
What to watch for
MGM held the film back for release and altered its ending to be less bleak than originally shot, partly out of concern that audiences, now turning toward talking pictures, would be resistant to such a grim silent drama. Watch for how the film uses the wind itself, visually and as an ongoing irritant to the characters, to build a mounting sense of psychological pressure rather than relying only on dialogue or plot incident, which was impossible in a silent film in any case. It is now widely regarded as one of the major achievements of the silent era and was selected for the National Film Registry in 1993.
