The future of filmmaking? 72.5%

Rating: 7/10 (15 February 2012)

I'm guessing that the world has been screaming out for silent, black and white movies this year in the wake of slow and plodding cinema releases recently like "Hugo" and "Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy".
This movie deals with the historical transition from silent movies to "talkies", in the late 1920s, and the effects that this has on an established star of the silent movie era (George Valentin, played by Jean Dujardin).
Even though this movie is in black and white and is, for the most part, silent, it's entertaining enough, in its own way. Dujardin must be a good actor, because in one scene, in front of a mirror with an attractive woman, he is actually looking at the woman's reflection and not himself in the mirror...the narcissistic nature of the acting profession means that that sight is as rare as hen's teeth. He is also amusing in the moments where he readies himself to be filmed for a scene. The cast do tend to recreate the acting styles of the silent era and one could say, perhaps, that Dujardin's eyebrows are more expressive than Laurence Olivier's ever were...that's a joke...not in the sense that Olivier's eyebrows were peerless...never mind...Dujardin's face is quite ye olde expressive, even if his eyebrows may not be...which I don't remember in any case!
I did enjoy the scene where rising star Peppy Miller (played by Bérénice Bejo) has a moment with Valentin's coat. Nice.
The film does lightly touch on some significant moments of the era, like the Other event of 1929.
Some people just seem born for this era of filmmaking...can you imagine how big a star Fran Drescher could have been at that time?
Anyway, this movie has some good physical comedy and "lines". Many critics are mentioning the dog as being a star of this movie.
Did manage to predict things in this movie...e.g. the kind of thing to happen when the feather dropped...what was in that locked box in Valentin's house.
If there is actual sound recording of the cast of this movie acting, that might be fun as a DVD extra for this movie...I would definitely give that a burl!