Such a frustrating disappointment

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

(Flash Review)Kicking off a romantic relationship as WWI erupts is certainly inconvenient. This scenario was done more convincingly than during the movie Pearl Harbor. ZING! In this film, the female lead and her love interest kick off the film as wartime events slowly move in and interfere. Her man is called into action throwing a wrench into their wedding plans. Will they ever marry? Will they both survive the war? There were many solid tense moments, which were probably very tense for the time period. Director Griffith doesn't shy away from highlighting the evils of war complimented by the honor of those who fought in the trenches and the honor many of the village locals have for their homeland. This film may have been Griffith's response to WWI as this came out as it was winding down. Overall, the film felt long despite being peppered with many early battle scenes with tanks, explosions, combat and tragedy. Another solid film for the Griffith resume.

Lillian Gish is one major reason I want a time travel machine.She was one of the loveliest women ever photographed; and she was a marvelous actress."Hearts of the World" is a major production, with some astonishing, especially for 1918, technical achievements.Other reviewers have mentioned Billy Bitzer's photography, and every mention that can be made should be made: Magnificent!Griffith's direction, overall, is also magnificent, but there are times the camera angle changes result in choppiness; perhaps, though, that is an editing fault more than one of directing.Acting overall is superb; the story is heart-rending; the anti-war feeling engendered is urgent.Ironically, supposedly the movie was made at the behest of the Brits, trying to propagandize these United States into joining the war. Yet Griffith still managed to portray the horrors of war, with a not exactly subliminal message against those horrors.Lillian Gish said, "I don't believe that Mr. Griffith ever forgave himself for making 'Hearts of the World.' 'War is the villain,' he repeated, 'not any particular people.'""War's gift to the common people," reads one intertitle, as the people of the French village are told to evacuate.The Girl, who was supposed to be marrying The Boy on this day, hurries to try to save her wedding ensemble."In the little room where she had dreamed so many dreams, she puts her sweetest one away," says the intertitle, while she tries to hide away her wedding gown. She is one of those "common people" who are allowed to exist only as cogs in the great machinery of the state, for the state, not for their own purposes.Human lives matter not at all, not even lives of the civilians not, supposedly, actively engaged in the conflict.All that matters is the state, the government, and such ephemera as national pride. More solid, but still meaningless, entities as national boundaries count for more than mere human beings.D.W. Griffith was the son of a war hero, Roaring Jake Griffith, who, after being wounded, still led a charge against the invading Yankees -- driving a wagon!Yet David Wark Griffith opposed war's horrors and demonstrated that opposition in several movies, including "Birth of a Nation" and "Intolerance."In some ways, "Hearts of the World" is his biggest achievement even though it is little known today.There are some few versions at YouTube.com, but the first one on the list has no music, the second has a score that is sometimes inappropriate. But both are pretty good prints. "Hearts of the World" is a must see, for its own self, and for your own self as a movie historian or as a movie scholar or as a movie fan.

An profound and astonishingly powerful film which, after the vile-spiritedness of "Birth Of A Nation" and the seeming hubris of "Intolerance", affirmed Griffith as a genuine humanist. A genuine anti-war film, unambivalent and unafraid to capture the truest horror.

This is a superb telling of war and how it affects the "common people." It begins with life in a small French village and how people go about their daily lives. This is the story of two Americans (Lillian Gish and Robert Harron) who meet and fall in love. But during their courtship Lillian's sister (Dorothy) takes a liking to Robert (called The Boy on the movie title cards) and tries to take him which leads to some interesting scenes. She finally realizes she can't have him and decides to take what she can have.There are good action battle scenes that very well show the chaos that is a battle. Chaos reigns supreme again when the town is bombed and the citizens have to flee. They have to try and pack then get out and still survive the bombing. Then there are those that don't want to leave. The movie does a good job of showing the horrors of death and the impact that has on people.War is about people. We tend to forget that (today's news refers to the impact on non-soldiers as 'collateral damage'). D.W. Griffith shows that impact. And yet, when it is over, how quickly we again look for the bright side of life and that is how it should be.One of the great features of this film is the limited use of title cards. They are used mostly as background filler and very little for conversations (much like Sunrise). Yet you know what is going on and the emotions of the moment. There is nothing mechanical about the acting. 8/10