Finally saw The Artist, and was amazed and delighted by how successfully the idiom of the silent film can work for a modern audience, when created with an understanding of the sensibility of that audience. And the sheer depth and beauty of the black and white cinematography!
Silent films are so very physical. The faces and bodies of the actors, and the way the light and camera placement capture those faces and bodies, carry the weight of the emotion of characters and their relationships. There’s just something so wonderfully primal about it, this direct expression of mind through face and body, without the distraction of all those words.
That very physicality makes me wonder — perhaps somebody should try to make a silent 3D movie. I’ll bet the two forms would work splendidly together!
I’m so glad that you liked it! 🙂 I’ve been thinking that I want to see it again, though I suspect that some of the clever storytelling devices would have less of an effect the second time.
That’s an interesting idea about doing a 3d silent movie. So far, I’ve found that 3d doesn’t add nearly as much to my movie-going experience as I imagine sound or color did when they were new. Maybe it is too early to judge. And 3d in a silent film might be a whole different experience.