The 1928 silent film “Autumn Mists” by Kirsanoff Dimitri excellently utilizes montage to convey thought and emotion. By centering the story and visuals on that of a singular character and editing everything to revolve around in some way, the woman’s thoughts and feelings embody the film wholesale – and through its editing, we learn more about her.
For instance, the beginning sequence of her staring at the fire, clutching the letter, and weeping. No dialogue or text tells us explicitly what is happening, but given the tone and emotion of the scene we can assume it is from a wayward lover of some kind. Her romantic isolation is reflected through the movie’s almost exclusive attention to her and her alone.
Furthermore, long shots of her crying face are spliced in with somber nature imagery, like rain. While there is no particular scenic correlation, we can infer a sort of emotional or thematic correlation as these chronologically discordant images come together to further enhance the melancholy of the film.
