The Film That Says A Lot By Staying Silent

Rating: 8/10 (14 November 2017)

I'll be short and unusually sweet.
I like the way this movie was made. I like it even more that others have not tried to replicate it since (so far). I'll keep my 'talkies' thank you very much.
From a technical side, the 'full screen' aspect ratio didn't take too long to get used to, in part because the film itself didn't take too long to get into. The design of the picture, everything about it, brings you back and allows you to believe. That's the great thing about movies, they can carry you to a time and era you've never experienced just so you can experience it.
I noticed right away how 'plain' the set decoration and lighting were back then. It would pain me to light a project like this because it's so simple and dull. The DP, Guillaume Schiffman, did do a fantastic job, and like the actors, had to learn a new technique to do his job I'm sure. It's so simple, it works on every level.
About half way through I began to realize how difficult acting in a silent film really is. As an actor in a silent picture you have to work really hard at getting your point across to the audience in actions, and not words; "mugging" as character Peppy Miller puts it. In saying that, the actors in this film would have had to train a little differently at being a silent film actor because all they've ever known are 'talkies' and their training as actors follow that basic necessity of today's movies - sound! In today's world, acting is more than just movement.
The Oscar for Best Picture is well deserved. Although this isn't a movie I'll watch over and over, it was a nice switch.