La Bohème

Set in 1830 in the Latin Quarter of Paris, where a circle of poor artists live together. Playwright Rodolphe falls in love with neighbour Mimi, a seamstress in even more dire financial circumstances. He watches jealously as the wealthy viscount Paul vies for her affection. During an Easter picnic, Rodolphe and Mimi confess their love of each other and, inspired by Mimi, Rodolphe finally writes a play. Meanwhile, Mimi has kept from him the fact that the publisher who has provided his bread and butter is no longer buying his articles. Instead, despite being ill, she is working nights to earn money for both of them. She asks the viscount to help get Rodolphe’s play into a theatre … An opera reimagined as a silent melodrama that takes the etymology of the word (“drama with music”) literally – La Bohème doesn’t miss a single opportunity for its protagonists to sing, play music, or dance. Right up to the tragic cadenza, with Lillian Gish embodying Mimi’s passion, a virtuoso turn that the actress researched at a tuberculosis clinic. In 1953, King Vidor said, “The movies have never known a more dedicated artist than Lillian Gish”.