Post by rmichaelpyle on Dec 26, 2011 11:02:46 GMT -6
Margaret and I went to see "The Artist" (2011) at the theater yesterday. May I say, by way of introduction, I'm not sure if it belongs in the sound or the silent category! Except for two very small scenes, the entire movie is a silent!
I haven't been transported like this by a film since I first saw "Casablanca". There are moments of Chaplinesque wonder. There will be future film students who do their doctoral theses on allusional features of the film and where those allusions originated - that is, in what original silent film. The male protagonist's character, named George Valentin (name a play on Valentino, of course), is a combination of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., John Gilbert, and, in the end, even Fred Astaire! The female protagonist, named Peppy Miller, is obviously shaped on Clara Bow and maybe Joan Crawford, maybe Bessie Love, certainly a combination of actresses like them. Neither lead is English, the male lead Jean Dujardin being a Parisian and the female lead Bérénice Bejo an Argentine. The production itself is French, with some help from Britain, smaller help from America, and it was produced in Belgium. The director, Michel Hazanavicius, is French. John Goodman plays a producer/director, and is wonderful to watch. Both James Cromwell and Ed Lauter, whom you've seen for decades in film and on TV, play chauffeurs for the stars, George and Peppy. Others in the cast are Missi Pyle, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell, and Beth Grant.
If you love silent film - or if you just simply love film and its history, especially near the advent of sound overtaking silent pictures, you'll be mesmerized like you've not been mesmerized by a film before. I promise you!
Simply a must, must, must see for all who are members of this board. It will transport you! This is the most satisfying movie experience I've had in nearly forty years. And it brings back a faith in what's being done in modern film, too. Trust me, there's still hope!!
Last year Margaret and I went on Christmas day to see "The King's Speech", a film that won Best Picture, Best Writing, Best Actor, and Best Director. There were nearly no young people in the audience, but the place was sold out. I was dumbfounded that a film at a movie theater was sold out on Christmas day. This year we went to the picture early because we thought it might be sold out again. Well, there were a lot of people there, all right, but it wasn't sold out by any means. Most of the people were older again. In fact, I don't remember any young people at all, to be honest. Now, down the hall "The War Horse" was not only sold out, but turned away hundreds of people, but, from what I could see, mostly older people, not necessarily younger people. I'm now beginning to think that it's older people who must go to the theater to see films on Christmas day, although I may be seriously mistaken, too. I was very pleased that as many people attended this film this year as were there. I say this for two reasons: first, we went to see "Hugo" just two weeks ago and we were two of five people in the entire theater! I thought, "Yeah, not a lot of people care about the silents!" Well, this turnout at least uplifted me from that sordid thought. Secondly, it was amazing how many people stayed to watch every credit and hear all the final music. A majority of the audience! Amazing, as Margaret and I usually do, but we end up being the last out of the theater. This time I actually heard a patron mention that she and her husband/partner/whatever are usually the last ones out of the theater and she was amazed that so many people remained to watch all the credits. I must also say that the credits didn't run for ten or fifteen minutes as they sometimes do for modern American films whose Union contracts make it necessary to mention those who strip the bandages off of injured giraffes! It was only about four or five minutes, and it was a joy as much as the film!
I haven't been transported like this by a film since I first saw "Casablanca". There are moments of Chaplinesque wonder. There will be future film students who do their doctoral theses on allusional features of the film and where those allusions originated - that is, in what original silent film. The male protagonist's character, named George Valentin (name a play on Valentino, of course), is a combination of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., John Gilbert, and, in the end, even Fred Astaire! The female protagonist, named Peppy Miller, is obviously shaped on Clara Bow and maybe Joan Crawford, maybe Bessie Love, certainly a combination of actresses like them. Neither lead is English, the male lead Jean Dujardin being a Parisian and the female lead Bérénice Bejo an Argentine. The production itself is French, with some help from Britain, smaller help from America, and it was produced in Belgium. The director, Michel Hazanavicius, is French. John Goodman plays a producer/director, and is wonderful to watch. Both James Cromwell and Ed Lauter, whom you've seen for decades in film and on TV, play chauffeurs for the stars, George and Peppy. Others in the cast are Missi Pyle, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell, and Beth Grant.
If you love silent film - or if you just simply love film and its history, especially near the advent of sound overtaking silent pictures, you'll be mesmerized like you've not been mesmerized by a film before. I promise you!
Simply a must, must, must see for all who are members of this board. It will transport you! This is the most satisfying movie experience I've had in nearly forty years. And it brings back a faith in what's being done in modern film, too. Trust me, there's still hope!!
Last year Margaret and I went on Christmas day to see "The King's Speech", a film that won Best Picture, Best Writing, Best Actor, and Best Director. There were nearly no young people in the audience, but the place was sold out. I was dumbfounded that a film at a movie theater was sold out on Christmas day. This year we went to the picture early because we thought it might be sold out again. Well, there were a lot of people there, all right, but it wasn't sold out by any means. Most of the people were older again. In fact, I don't remember any young people at all, to be honest. Now, down the hall "The War Horse" was not only sold out, but turned away hundreds of people, but, from what I could see, mostly older people, not necessarily younger people. I'm now beginning to think that it's older people who must go to the theater to see films on Christmas day, although I may be seriously mistaken, too. I was very pleased that as many people attended this film this year as were there. I say this for two reasons: first, we went to see "Hugo" just two weeks ago and we were two of five people in the entire theater! I thought, "Yeah, not a lot of people care about the silents!" Well, this turnout at least uplifted me from that sordid thought. Secondly, it was amazing how many people stayed to watch every credit and hear all the final music. A majority of the audience! Amazing, as Margaret and I usually do, but we end up being the last out of the theater. This time I actually heard a patron mention that she and her husband/partner/whatever are usually the last ones out of the theater and she was amazed that so many people remained to watch all the credits. I must also say that the credits didn't run for ten or fifteen minutes as they sometimes do for modern American films whose Union contracts make it necessary to mention those who strip the bandages off of injured giraffes! It was only about four or five minutes, and it was a joy as much as the film!
I was beginning to get so frustrated when I thought I would not get to see it until it came to DVD, because no theater in our immediate area was showing it. (I guess that's the price one pays for living in a small town. 
)
Oh well, can't win them all, eh?
Maybe it's similar to the way my first husband (born in 1929) turned up his nose when I gave him Linda Ronstadt's album of classic American songs What's New. He said that the original versions were better. 
