The Wind (1928) | Region-Free (DVD) | Starring Lilian Gish

Title: The Wind (1928)

Genre: Romantic Drama, Western

Plot Synopsis:
Letty Mason, a delicate young woman from Virginia, relocates to the harsh, wind-swept plains of West Texas to live with her cousin Beverly and his family. Upon arrival, she faces hostility from Beverly’s wife, Cora, and unwanted attention from several local men. As the relentless wind and isolation take their toll, Letty’s mental state deteriorates, leading to a dramatic and haunting climax.

Cast and Crew:

• Director: Victor Sjöström
• Writer: Frances Marion (screenplay), based on the novel by Dorothy Scarborough
• Cast:
  • Lillian Gish as Letty Mason
  • Lars Hanson as Lige Hightower
  • Montagu Love as Wirt Roddy
  • Dorothy Cumming as Cora
  • Edward Earle as Beverly

IMDb Link:
The Wind (1928)

Reviews from Letterboxd:

1. Jake Cole ★★★★½
   A reminder that westerns were “revisionist” pretty much from the start. The frontier rendered as a hellscape of billowing sand, rain and snow, buffeting an increasingly unhinged Lillian Gish, who puts in her most expressionistic performance as a beleaguered woman swept around until she cannot think straight. This is the West as a literal howling void, a realm that exists as an unceasingly hostile force of nature outside what few shelters have been erected to protect settlers from a world so much bigger than they. The climax, of Gish being so violently buffeted that the film turns into an extended hallucination while maintaining Sjöstrom’s paradoxical brutal realism, is among the scariest sequences of the silent era.

2. Lara Pop ★★★★
   ‘There’s nothing out there. Nothing but sand.’

   Light galloping in the form of a white horse – bringing death. The Wind is a visual nightmare of the desolate countryside blowing the soul into oblivion. It is a surreal apparition of sand and wind where the only solid footing is in the dust-filled air hurtling its victim into the nothingness.

   Sjöström’s genius lies in his skill of joining the visible with the metaphorical. He crafts his haunting dreamscape with claustrophobic visuals that allude to the psychological elements: he suffuses the lonely countryside with a bleakness signaling the worthlessness of our protagonist, and contrasts the endless physical landscape with the rapidly narrowing space of the human psyche.

3. Thehoennhippo ★★★★½
   The fucking atmosphere is off the charts in this one. The central motif of the wind is utlized incredibly effectively throughout the film, it’s omnipresent as it wears down on Letty’s psyche. Lillian Gish’s performance is just amazing, I’m the opposite of an expert on silent film, but this is one of the best I’ve seen on one. The entire final act is just insane, though with the caveat of a very obvious executive meddling final minute. That doesn’t change what the rest of the film is bringing to the table. What a fantastic way to start my year.

Meta Description:
The Wind (1928) is a silent romantic drama directed by Victor Sjöström, featuring Lillian Gish as Letty Mason, a young woman from Virginia who moves to the unforgiving plains of West Texas. Facing relentless winds and social isolation, Letty’s struggle for sanity unfolds in this haunting classic of early American cinema.