A new exploration of retro style

Barrett 2022-04-20 09:01:30

I personally think this film is more of an exploration than a retro. The use of modern lens language combined with the form of silent film should be regarded as a tribute innovation, and should not be accused of "not enough silent film". After all, the times have changed, and the audience's acceptance habits have been very different. It seems that there is no point in sticking to the rules of silent films.
However, from the results, the style of light comedy and the form of silent film still brought a lot of challenges to the director. The lack of twists and turns throughout the story is likely to be largely plagued by this problem, given how difficult it is to tell a complex story this way.
But the most important thing is that the audience can deeply feel that after removing the language part, they can still have the same or even better artistic charm by relying only on facial expressions and body language.
Many of the details in the film are brilliant, especially the part where the heroine hugs herself in the hero's coat. Although this ugliness is somewhat unbearable, the sincere friendship is fully revealed, and the various efforts made by the female protagonist for the male protagonist to make a comeback are logical. In addition, when the male protagonist tries to commit suicide in despair, the audio subtitles may only have such a comedic effect in the silent film era. The part where the male protagonist looks at the window when he is dressed in formal clothes is also impressive.
I have to say that the success of this film is largely due to Jean Dujardin's excellent performance. As Gombrich said: There is really no such thing as art, only artists. Got it now.

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Extended Reading

The Artist quotes

  • [last lines]

    Assistant Director: And... action!

  • Doris: Why won't you talk?