The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)

Great movie that revisits the transition from silent films to talkies (and then on to the dance extravaganzas) by focusing on the conventions of each. As the camera switches between the actors and the embedded film's audience, we become aware of what causes us to react and why.  For a silent film, it's not the clever dialogue but the juxtaposition of images or the exaggerated expressions that convey the characters' emotions.  The music also does much of the work, but I found myself resisting the way it tried to manipulate my reactions.  Most importantly, though, the film demonstrates how the interplay between the lack of talking and the intertitles can be ambiguous. For instance, what is it that goes "Bang" in the penultimate scene?

Sound only appears twice in the film: during George Valentin's dream, when he can hear everything but he has no voice, and then briefly at the end, when he and Peppy Miller are dancing for a film (a la Rogers and Astaire) and we hear him speak two or three words. 

Interesting note: this is the second film of the season that looks at the earliest period of film history (see my comments of *Hugo*).  Makes me wonder if the convergence is coincidental or the leading edge of a phase.

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