Before I watched Spies I wasn't aware it was a silent film, although with it being directed in Germany in the Twenties I probably should have figured that out. As a result, I was caught a little off-guard for the opening scenes, but you quickly get used to it, and it's quite surprising how little you miss dialogue in terms of plot progression, as lengthy conversations are neatly summed up in a few lines.
That being said, if you don't have the patience for it (and unfortunately I don't), the silent dialogue prevents you from really engaging with the film, and to be honest, at two and a half hours, its absence is more than noticeable. The longer the film goes on (and let's face it, it does go on) the more frustrating the "conversations" become, as characters "talk" for around thirty seconds, only for the summaries to be a short sentence. While I appreciate that pacing contributes to the film's suspense, it does become ridiculous, and you're left to wonder why it's all taking so long. The silence also obviously hampers the acting, but they all appear to be types anyway (look out for the terrible moustaches), and the score doesn't really help much (the version I saw had one added by Donald Sosin), often sounding like some guy has had a bit too much fun with his keyboard (the car chase music is particularly bad).
However, it is fantastically well set-up and shot, especially considering it is nearly eighty years old, and the stylistic influences on later directors such as Hitchcock are obvious. It is probably for this reason that it has stood the test of time. As a story it is also quite interesting and clever, it just suffers from some tedious pacing issues.
So overall, if you have the patience and the two and a half hours, it's worth watching as it is well shot and has an interesting storyline. However, if you have little patience and a short attention span, you're likely to come away from Spies a little frustrated.
That being said, if you don't have the patience for it (and unfortunately I don't), the silent dialogue prevents you from really engaging with the film, and to be honest, at two and a half hours, its absence is more than noticeable. The longer the film goes on (and let's face it, it does go on) the more frustrating the "conversations" become, as characters "talk" for around thirty seconds, only for the summaries to be a short sentence. While I appreciate that pacing contributes to the film's suspense, it does become ridiculous, and you're left to wonder why it's all taking so long. The silence also obviously hampers the acting, but they all appear to be types anyway (look out for the terrible moustaches), and the score doesn't really help much (the version I saw had one added by Donald Sosin), often sounding like some guy has had a bit too much fun with his keyboard (the car chase music is particularly bad).
However, it is fantastically well set-up and shot, especially considering it is nearly eighty years old, and the stylistic influences on later directors such as Hitchcock are obvious. It is probably for this reason that it has stood the test of time. As a story it is also quite interesting and clever, it just suffers from some tedious pacing issues.
So overall, if you have the patience and the two and a half hours, it's worth watching as it is well shot and has an interesting storyline. However, if you have little patience and a short attention span, you're likely to come away from Spies a little frustrated.