* You're right, Freeman. "The Artist" has a gimmick - and that gimmick is being the first commercially released silent film in the modern era since Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie" (1976). Because of this gimmick, the "story," such as it is, is constrained by what silent pictures can bring to an audience without intelligent dialogue, voice overs or symbolic imagery. Conversely, "The Tree of Life" is cosmic art - and not surprisingly, very divisive to audiences in the same way Kubrick's "2001" is - a film that geeks like us love - but feel compelled to constantly defend. You were there for the "2001" premiere and you told us that story of how it was received at one VIP preview - vs. at another preview held the next day. "2001" did not win Best Picture, but it is a classic.
* "The Tree of Life" is Terrence Malick's greatest film. But I get blank looks from people when I talk about it. Quoting another reviewer who loved "The Tree of Life" as much as I did (in the context of disparaging the "end of the world" theme of Lars Von Trier's "Melancholia") - "The Tree of Life says every moment of existence is shot through with glory. Melancholia says life is miserable, so who cares if the world ends?" Malick reaches for the stars and some audiences get it and some don't. This doesn't mean (nor am I suggesting), that those who don't are mentally challenged fools. * In the end, "The Artist" is indeed a croissant that makes no pretense of trying to be an inward-directed, soul-searching treatise for the serious mind, nor could it be capable of such - given the format upon which it sits. I confess that although I loved "The Tree of Life," enough to see it twice, (the second time on DVD with subtitles, which decoded many mysteries I missed the first time around) - when it comes to my time and my dollars, I still lean toward films that don't feel like work. I appreciate pondering the unponderable, but I like being surprised and walking out happy much better because I'm a depressive nut by nature. * It's like that scene in Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986). Like Terrence Malick, Woody is obsessed with the "what is the point of life?" question. His character tries out a bunch of religions which only make him feel worse. But his revelation that hand-wringing over "life's" questions is futile - and that "living isn't all a drag" - comes not during a cosmic moment, but when he walks in during a screening of "Duck Soup" with the Marx Bros. He's laughing and enjoying himself over a film that's a 1933 light-weight classic. "The Artist" is light-weight in content, and I don't think it will be a classic. But it's an ingenious and clever work for film buffs. It accomplished for me what "Hugo" did not, and in far less time. I think what I'm saying (in too many damned words) - is because "The Artist" is a derivative mash-up of silent film clichés, and because "The Tree of Life" is derivative of "2001" (with far fewer paying admissions) - we'll probably be dead before the term "classic" can be bestowed on the either credibly. I still run into people who go blank when I talk about "The Shawshank Redemption." (BTW, I agree w/you about that horrid film, "CRASH." That was the Academy's cowardly way of "copping-out" for not picking the favored "Brokeback Mountain" as the Best Picture of 2005, even though the film I liked most that year was "Capote.") -d. > Subject: Re: [MOPO] OT: RECOMMENDED - "THE ARTIST" > From: [email protected] > Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:29:36 -0800 > CC: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > > Freeman's review of THE ARTIST in a couple of sentences. > > Remember your first plain croissant? Different in shape, color, flakey, > delicious while eating. But then when it was over it was like, ehhh is that > all there is? > No meat, no other tastes but just buttered dough, and you couldn't help > thinking, couldn't the baker have tried a little harder? > > THE ARTIST = a croissant > > If you want a full banquet, with astonishing sensations, thoughtful > preparation and a feast for the eyes, ears and head. > > THE TREE OF LIFE > > And when THE ARTIST does win Best Picture, which is likely, just watch. In > five years it will be relegated to that > "WTF were they thinking?" bone pile. Just like THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, > ROCKY and worst of all CRASH. > > my two cents BUT always great to hear from David Kusomoto on this here board. > > ( EDIT: The dog was GREAT though, far more appealing than the female lead.) > > > On Jan 26, 2012, at 6:40 PM, David Kusumoto wrote: > > Based on a rave review received privately from a fellow MoPo member, we > rushed out to see "The Artist." Impressions (rather than an essay): > > * Magnificent. A "cute" story told with dazzling flair in around 90 minutes.. > * Lives up to and sometimes exceeds all of its critical hype. > * Best directed film of 2011. (Michel Hazanavicius). > * You would NOT know this was a French film unless you were told FIRST. > * The two French leads, Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo (the director's true > life wife), deserve their nominations. > * Other actors are English or American, e.g., James Cromwell, Penelope Ann > Miller, John Goodman, Malcolm McDowell, Missi Pyle. > * Dazzling 21st century tools replicate old film clichés, e.g., multiple > exposures, dissolves, twirling newspapers, etc.; > * Aspect ratio is the original square frame used during the silent era. > * Silent film ironically has the best adapted score of the year, heard in > BOOMING monaural SOUND. > * Deceptively simple story is actually charmingly intricate; a superb > Oscar-nominated screenplay. > * The Jack Russell Terrier steals every scene. > * The film was shot entirely in Los Angeles. > * Some sequences are NOT ENTIRELY silent. > * "Put me over the top" (1 of 2): Bernard Herrmann's orchestral love theme > from Hitchcock's "Vertigo" heard in its ENTIRETY. > * "Put me over the top" (2 of 2): An Astaire-Rogers-style tap dance scene > with full rich sound. > * Superior pacing and emotion over "Hugo." > * Writer-director Hazanavicius is only 44. > * Superb ending. > * If it doesn't win Best Picture, I'll be very disappointed. > * Not sure if people under 30 will like it but I don't care. (They won't get > the "Vertigo" music either). > > -d. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
