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DVD Sunday: The Artist

It's awards season in the States, and whether you attach any importance to the Oscars or the Golden Globes, this is the time the film industry releases a lot of its quota of “quality” titles. ...
Last updated: 2015-11-09


It's awards season in the States, and whether you attach any importance to the Oscars or the Golden Globes, this is the time the film industry releases a lot of its quota of “quality” titles.

About half of the big contenders are in the shops in Shanghai, including The Descendants, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, The Help and Tree of Life. There’s good and bad in all of those, but this week we picked up a copy of The Artist, which is up for best picture, best actor, best director, best supporting actress, and so on.

It’s the oddball nomination, in many ways, because it’s a silent film, as in no dialogue – none – except for the occasional piece of text displayed in copperplate fonts against a black background when exposition is really necessary. It’s also shot in black and white, and in an unusual aspect ratio – almost square, rather than the widescreen format we’re used to. In short, it looks and sounds like a film made in the 1920s.

It is also about the earliest era of film: the plot follows a star of the silent screen and the effect that the introduction of the talkies has on his career and identity. Beyond that, it is a love story and an affectionate homage to some of the great early American filmmakers.

Watching a silent film initially takes some getting used to. It’s an unusual experience for most of us who have seen perhaps only a handful of silent films in their entirety, if any. The first 10 or 15 minutes are a little beguiling. But the lack of dialogue is so much more than just a gimmick: persevere and you’ll be rewarded with a film that plays out beautifully. It’s funny, self-referentially clever and involving, but really just a simple, heartfelt love story that never takes itself too seriously.

For many reasons, this would make a good Valentine’s movie if you’re going to stay in rather than hit the town on Tuesday. It’s an ideal one to watch with a Chinese girl- or boyfriend, because the lack of dialogue means the story is entirely told through the physical performances of the actors. No emotions will be lost in translation.

Our copy was hard-subbed in French – meaning the few pieces of on-screen text had French subtitles that we couldn’t turn off. But it also had an option for Chinese subtitles. The quality was generally good – and you want to find yourself a decent-quality copy of this one, otherwise things might start to drag.

This isn’t a film for everyone. The pace is necessarily slow and there are no explosions – although there is one beautifully executed BANG at the end of the movie. But neither is it solely for movie buffs and fans of the silver screen. The music is fantastic, though not entirely original – the director dips into scores Bernard Herrmann composed for some of Hitchcock’s films. The set design is sharp and the experience of watching a story told without dialogue is in itself enough to draw attention to just how much humor and emotion can be conveyed without words.

It probably won’t win the top gong at the Oscars, but from what we’ve seen of the shortlist so far, we’d be pleased if it did.

Grade: B+

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