A Page Of Madness (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #15 extract: A Page Of Madness (1926)

A Page Of Madness is an incredibly convoluted and complex silent film, but, despite being hard to follow, this is a terrific filmic experience. 

What you will have to know going into this film is that its about a man who gets a job as a janitor at an asylum so he can be close to his wife (who is a patient). Conflict arises from this when his daughter, who is to be married soon, finds this out. 

On top of being a formal and aesthetic storm of mastery and ingenuity, A Page Of Madness is a melancholic film about family, the disconnection between peoples' minds and the fact that we usually have little to no influence over a person's 'madness'. This then makes the symbol of a mask, something that creates a facade, a poignant and devastating element of this film's conclusion. 

Without delving into spoilers, all I can say is this is an early avant garde film worth being lost in.