Any serious student of film will tell you that the last “silent” film was Charlie Chaplin‘s Modern Times in 1936 (although it had a soundtrack, unlike “true” silent films). Still, others will remind you that you can’t forget about Mel Brooks‘ wonderful silent film spoof, Silent Movie (1976). But the Weinstein Company is looking to change that — Deadline reports that the Weinstein Company has made the first major deal of the Cannes Film Festival by purchasing the distribution rights to The Artist, which, believe it or not, is a black and white silent film that was made in 2011.
The film, which will be in competition during the world’s most famous film festival, is set in 1927 and tells the story of George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a silent movie star whose career is about to decline because of the arrival of the “talkie” (those same serious film students will tell you that 1927 was the year the first “sound” film, The Jazz Singer, was released). Cleverly, the story is told in a silent film, and the film stills from IndieWire reveal an absolutely gorgeously shot film. The Deadline article suggests that the Weinsteins will release this during award season — which might be a tough sell to general audiences — but I definitely want to see this film just for its unique artistic standpoint.
The Artist also stars Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle and Penelope Ann Miller. It was written, directed, and produced by Frenchman Michel Hazanavicius, who, I assume, loves silent film as much as I do.
Now this one makes me curious: anyone else interested in seeing a film like this in 2011?
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