With every technical advanceâ┚¬â€Âin this case, the addition of sound to film in the early 30sâ┚¬â€Âwe lose something. Sure, we shake off much of the cheesy hamming that made Vaudevillians such great silent screen actors. However, we also lose the beautiful subtlety of expression and the experiments in cinematography.
As Gloria Swanson famously said in Sunset Boulevard, â┚¬Å”We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!â┚¬ÂÂ
The Artist is a silent, black and white flick that takes us on a nifty journey of nostalgia.
Dujardin is a silent film actor, in the style of Valentino with a little Errol Flynn rakishness thrown in. When one of his adoring fans, Bejo, accidentally bumps into him, she finds herself on the way to Hollywoodland stardom. She becomes famous in talkies, just as his star fadesâ┚¬â€Âagain, like Valentino. He self-destructs and only her secret love and care protects him. Well, that and the loyalty of his awesome dog!
It's a pretty simple story, but silent films always were. Camera shots and background sets basically pound the themes home in a fun way. The score prevails, but small experiments in sound effects give us a sense of what we gave up with the introduction of noise. The Artist teaches us the power of faces and body language.
The idea could've been gimmicky, but a deep respect for silent films makes this flick a joy to behold.
There is no denying the chemistry of the two lead actors, and director Guy Ritchie has some fun with the elaborate action sequences. Those are some serious clues to the success of a burgeoning Victorian franchise that still cannot weave a yarn without getting all tangled in travel and tangents.
Watson (Law) is about to begin his married life, when the brilliant, manic and drug-addicted Holmes ensnares the doctor in another mystery. This one involves Holmes' famous nemesis, the evil Dr. Moriarty (Harris). It also involves anarchists, gypsies, and a possible premature start to WWI.
Sure, there are some â┚¬Å”gayâ┚¬Â moments between the inspector and his best friend, but that's not enough to carry a film. Even with gifted actors and locations all over steampunk Europe, this still managed to become washed out, lifeless. Part of it is that Holmes' mysteriesâ┚¬â€Âeven Arthur Conan Doyle's original booksâ┚¬â€Âare absurdist in their complexities.
A good clue to how this all goes wrong is Noomi Rapace's character. (She's the wonderful, original Lisbeth from the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). She's there when they need her; she disappears when she doesn't service the action.
I say â┚¬Å”actionâ┚¬Â and not â┚¬Å”plot,â┚¬Â because the story has so many impossibilities and holes of logic that it grows tiresome. The effects even gets to be so loud and fast, they becomes static, duller than Sherlock's mind on drugs.
Tintin is a boy wonder, a Belgian reporter who, along with his dog, solves some of the world's greatest mysteries. He was one of the most popular comic book characters of the last century. Yet Tintin could've been lost to modern audiences if it weren't for Steven Spielberg and Nickelodeon creating a TV series and then this fun, silly computer animated film.
Tintin (Bell) buys a model ship that sails him into a mystery about an old pirate battle and a modern-day family feud. This film (hopefully not the last) introduces us to all the main characters: the boy, his dog, the famously drunk Captain Haddock (Serkis), the bumbling inspectors Thompson and Thompson (Pegg and Frost).
It's easy to love the old-school 1930s action sequences, which call to mind Spielberg's Indiana Jones series. Tintin starts quiet and small and builds to three great action sequencesâ┚¬â€Âon a pirate boat, in Morocco, and finally back on the streets of Luxembourg. The characters are memorable, and their animation is well rendered, realistic but not waxworks creepy. There is a subtle repetition to the action. Most kids won't catch it, but it's likely to delight adults. Sure, it's not the deepest or most believable stuff, but there's delight in its silliness and implausibility. In fact, this is one of those light, fast kiddie flicks the whole family can enjoy.
