Salomé (1923), a silent film directed by Charles Bryant and starring Alla Nazimova, is a film adaptation of the Oscar Wilde play of the same name. The play itself is a loose retelling of the biblical story of King Herod and his execution of John the Baptist (here, as in Wilde's play, called Jokaanan) at the request of his stepdaughter, Salomé, whom he lusts after. Salomé is often called one of the first art films to be made in the U.S.[citation needed] The highly stylized costumes, exaggerated acting (even for the period), minimal sets, and absence of all but the most necessary props make for a screen image much more focused on atmosphere and on conveying a sense of the characters' individual heightened desires than on conventional plot development. Despite the film being only a little over an hour in length and having no real action to speak of, it cost over $350,000 to make. All the sets were constructed indoors to be able to have complete control over the lighting. The film was shot completely in black and white, matching the illustrations done by Aubrey Beardsley in the printed edition of Wilde's play. The costumes, designed by Natacha Rambova, used material only from Maison Lewis of Paris, such as the real silver lamé loincloths worn by the guards. No major studio would be associated with the film, and it was years after its completion before it was released, by a minor independent distributor. It was a complete failure at the time and marked the end of Nazimova's producing career. A longstanding rumor, which seems to have started while the film was still in production, suggests that its cast is comprised entirely of gay and bisexual actors in an homage to Oscar Wilde, as per star and producer Nazimova's demand. It is, of course, impossible to say, but one of the extras in Salomé reported that a number of the cast members—both featured and extras—were indeed gay, but not an unusual percentage of them, and certainly not all of them. What can be said is that Nazimova herself was a lesbian, the two guard characters (who, next to Salomé, have the most screen time) are at least played very stereotypically gay, and several of the female courtiers are men in drag. Salomé was screened in 1989 at the New York International Festival of Lesbian and Gay films and in 1990 at the New York Gay Experimental Film Festival. In 2000, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film culturally significant and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
剧情就是一部片子的主线,就是这部影片的灵魂,如果一部片子没有一个好的主线,无疑这必定会是一部烂片。因为我们无法真正的去捕捉这部剧或是这部电影要传达给观众是什么,或是他想通过这部片子反映一个什么道理。
萨乐美导演以自身的传统美学功底,对电影的写实艺术特性也有精深的理解和把握,他特别擅以生动的细节描绘人物的内心活动,并调动电影的各种艺术元素为塑造人物服务。
作为一门艺术,不仅要有优秀的故事和表演,还需要具备出色的技术表现。摄影、音效、音乐和特效等方面的表现都能够提升电影的观赏价值。技术的精湛与细腻能够帮助电影更好地传达情感和故事,增强观众的观影体验。