Joy In Movie Making

I played hooky today, working from home and taking care of my daughter who was ill. I had been to the Library a few days ago and grabbed a couple of DVDs off the shelf. One of these as purge joy.

"The Artist", starring the charming and charismatic Jean Dujardin and the beautiful and sweet Bérénice Bejo was just that a; joy to the visual senses. Shown in theaters in 2011, the film was set in the late 20's, early 30s. Filmed entirely in black and white and semi-silent, the film relied on all that charm and beauty to reach for the stars. The story chronicles the moment in time where silent films are supplanted by talkies. There are many visual references to silence and noise, and the motif is used throughout. Though mostly silent, there is a wonderful musical accompaniment throughout, and a few occasional and appropriate uses of sound scattered throughout.


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Nominated for 10 academy awards, the movie garnered 5...and worthy of each.  I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and would watch it again and recommend it. Remarkable for me, besides the effective lack of sound and color, was the fact that true romance was demonstrated by a few tender, non-explicit moments, some silent tears, and truly loving gesture...and not the heavy handed naked bed scenes in so many other modern movies.

Two Thumbs up...check it out.