tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post2661059187551133701..comments2024-03-10T10:56:38.185-04:00Comments on the passionate moviegoer: the smilejoe baltakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11467420961490314339noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-85031380291453047962012-02-19T22:48:36.646-05:002012-02-19T22:48:36.646-05:00No, Clay, you weren't impolite at all - and yo...No, Clay, you weren't impolite at all - and your observation has been voiced by many. Yew, the star of "The Artist," Jean Dujardin, may be French in real-life, but the nationality of the character he plays, George Valentin, is - I believe - supposed to be American.joe baltakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11467420961490314339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-75826853619589794982012-02-19T18:30:40.896-05:002012-02-19T18:30:40.896-05:00Well, per'aps you are right. I hope I was not ...Well, per'aps you are right. I hope I was not impolite in commenting in the first place. Having since heard the actor interviewed, it is evident that the accent was not put on, so the question remains unsettled. Thanks for responding.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br /><br />ClayClay Farris Naffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08422075681952376307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-33070315738077473562012-02-19T16:35:28.053-05:002012-02-19T16:35:28.053-05:00Actually, Clay, I do disagree. But politely. He ...Actually, Clay, I do disagree. But politely. He speaks only two words at the end, "With pleasure," and they are perfectly understandable, despite a faint accent. I think you - and others (you are not alone in your deduction) - are reading something into the film that "The Artist" never addresses. His nationality, voice and accent are never mentioned; he simply walks away from a successful career - and ruins his life - because he's against what he sees as a passing fad. The world moves on without him - both on-screen and off - and <em>that's</em> the melancholy point of "The Artist."joe baltakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11467420961490314339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-21259471424975391082012-02-19T16:04:07.277-05:002012-02-19T16:04:07.277-05:00I know it's a bit late to be commenting, but I...I know it's a bit late to be commenting, but I was stunned by this in your review: " He just doesn't want to be seen talking on film. Why? Well, because he doesn't believe in it."<br /><br />Did you not hear the snippet of sound at the end? I took it to be the payoff of the whole film - the point being that once the American public heard him speak, the image he'd built with them would be shattered.<br /><br />You disagree?Clay Farris Naffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08422075681952376307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-58506086219653848302012-02-04T08:11:55.639-05:002012-02-04T08:11:55.639-05:00i agree with jayi agree with jayapostolis90https://www.blogger.com/profile/01441172734840828303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-55280470058450215082012-01-26T07:33:32.874-05:002012-01-26T07:33:32.874-05:00I'm a bit more of a cynic, Jay, but you and Ja...I'm a bit more of a cynic, Jay, but you and Janet's friend may be right.joe baltakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11467420961490314339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-72546804181217911472012-01-26T06:17:51.633-05:002012-01-26T06:17:51.633-05:00Finally saw this and agree with your assessment, J...Finally saw this and agree with your assessment, Joe. I had a hard time understanding character motivations. It's hard to buy that Valentin's objections to sound are purely artistic, and no one seems to suggest there's any other issue. However, I disagree with you and Janet -- like her "silly friend," I believe Valentin's accent at the end seems intended to retroactively explain his real reason for resisting sound. He doesn't say only one word; he says "With pleasure." Only in his heavy French accent, it comes out as "Wiz pleasure."jbryantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-2529241599014906132012-01-17T06:07:54.767-05:002012-01-17T06:07:54.767-05:00Joe! Congratulations on being an early bird alerti...Joe! Congratulations on being an early bird alerting folks about the use of the Hitchcock score in "The Artist." Started seeing mainstream news about the controversy in the past few days, and thought of you!bkellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-14288308337097243372012-01-16T18:02:17.602-05:002012-01-16T18:02:17.602-05:00I disagree, too, Janet. The theory that your frie...I disagree, too, Janet. The theory that your friend posits doesn't make any sense because when George does speak at the end of the film, he says only one word. It makes no sense that, on the basis of one word, anyone would discern an accent. And the reason George says only one word is because the director of "The Artist" was cognizant of the facts that he was making a film set in America, set within the American film industry and supposedly populated with American actors - but that he was working with a French leading man. What better way to disguise this fact than to have him say one word and only one word?joe baltakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11467420961490314339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-87898484436748217172012-01-16T17:57:59.339-05:002012-01-16T17:57:59.339-05:00You wrote: :"It's difficult to get fully ...You wrote: :"It's difficult to get fully invested in George's plight because, unlike Jean Hagan's Lina Lamont in "Singin' in the Rain," the problem apparently isn't a horrible speaking voice. He just doesn't want to be seen talking on film."<br /><br />A silly friend of mine suggested that this is addressed at the end of the film when George finally speaks and he has a heavy French accent. She seems to think that his accent would have made it difficult for moviegoers to understand what he was saying and that's why he didn't want to speak on film. I disagree.Janetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-28200070026854961892012-01-13T20:57:14.498-05:002012-01-13T20:57:14.498-05:00I recognized the music from "Vertigo" as...I recognized the music from "Vertigo" as soon as it started playing. "Vertigo" is one of my all-time favorite movies and its music is just so lovely and spellbinding. I love it. I was surprised it was used in this movie, though. I thought the music had a right place for the scenes, but I'm sad to hear that not enough credit was granted of it. You hear that music and immediately think, "Vertigo." It should have been mentioned.Tescanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-58934993626130890152012-01-12T09:39:53.947-05:002012-01-12T09:39:53.947-05:00I knew about this, but i was surprised by the reac...I knew about this, but i was surprised by the reaction of Kim Novak. <br /><br />However, it's become SOP for European "art" films. That Italian miniseries that everyone seemed to love, THE BEST OF YOUTH, drove me crazy because the entire score was "composed" of snippets from Delerue, Auric, etc. You're watching a scene, and the music from JULES AND JIM or BEAUTY AND THE BEAST comes on, and it kept throwing me out of the movie, because i was no longer watching the scene but remembering the scene from another movie. And Scorsese did it in CASINO: if i wanted to be watching Godard's CONTEMPT, let me watch Godard's CONTEMPT. Don't slather Delerue's score over Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone.<br /><br />But this is how things are with most movies, and it's actually not so different from the studio days, when composers had to work on so many movies a year that there were times they simply regurgitated the same score for different movies. Hell: Max Steiner did this to death!d.c.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-53598921518518372402012-01-11T13:11:56.481-05:002012-01-11T13:11:56.481-05:00Merci, Jay!Merci, Jay!joe baltakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11467420961490314339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-69770303682085079362012-01-11T13:07:42.895-05:002012-01-11T13:07:42.895-05:00Joe: Oh, I agree that the true point has to do wit...Joe: Oh, I agree that the true point has to do with according the proper respect to Herrmann (either by giving him a more prominent and accurate credit or by leaving out the VERTIGO excerpt altogether). I was just responding to P.R.'s characterization of 'music theft.'<br /><br />I also agree with you and Sheila that THE ARTIST will not be a factor in the Foreign Language Film race. True, there's no dialogue track in any language, but that was also true of LE BAL, a 1983 dance film that scored a nomination. But, THE ARTIST was made in the U.S., which I think automatically disqualifies it under Academy rules. It's moot anyway because France's official submission was LA GUERRE EST DECLAREE (DECLARATION OF WAR). Each country gets only one submission per year.jbryantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-42658014078714200232012-01-10T22:27:13.520-05:002012-01-10T22:27:13.520-05:00I say no, too. You're right.I say no, too. You're right.joe baltakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11467420961490314339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-195758770471749822012-01-10T22:25:09.979-05:002012-01-10T22:25:09.979-05:00I figure that "The Artist" will be a bes...I figure that "The Artist" will be a best film nominee, but a friend says it can also qualify in the foreign category because it's French. I say no because that category is actually called "foreign-language" and no one speaks French or any other language in it. What do you say?Sheilanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-56949776848378617582012-01-10T19:56:36.923-05:002012-01-10T19:56:36.923-05:00Jay! I don't believe "music theft" i...Jay! I don't believe "music theft" is the point here. However, while you say, "credit and, presumably, compensation have been given where due," it is still a bit curioius that the type used for the music listing in the end credits is so small and that the Hermann credit lists his contribution only as "Love Theme," with no reference whatsoever to "Vertigo."joe baltakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11467420961490314339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-45336952824338807292012-01-10T19:32:55.384-05:002012-01-10T19:32:55.384-05:00Hermann's music surpasses the rest of the scor...Hermann's music surpasses the rest of the score, period.Mike G.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-18572398605745472232012-01-10T18:07:36.807-05:002012-01-10T18:07:36.807-05:00P.R.: I'm not sure how Desplat is credited on ...P.R.: I'm not sure how Desplat is credited on screen, but imdb lists his contribution as "Original Music by." This is accurate; the original music heard on the soundtrack is by Desplat. <br /><br />Reportedly, the film's editor used Beethoven's Seventh as temp music for the speech prior to Desplat being hired. Desplat thought it worked, so he chose not to compose a new piece for the scene.<br /><br />At any rate, neither THE KING'S SPEECH nor THE ARTIST can be said to be guilty of "music theft." Credit and, presumably, compensation have been given where due. The Beethoven is in the public domain, of course, but the specific performance heard would have been licensed for use in the film.jbryantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-53518057226977354142012-01-10T16:14:25.148-05:002012-01-10T16:14:25.148-05:00I'm afraid that, based on the "'Artis...I'm afraid that, based on the "'Artist' acolytes" that I've met, any criticism of this film, no matter how valid, will be rendered invalid and will end any sustained conversation about its flaws because its supporters are so dismissive of differing opinions from the outset.Kentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-34042514449835876962012-01-10T15:41:37.367-05:002012-01-10T15:41:37.367-05:00Can such components as a borrowed piece of film mu...Can such components as a borrowed piece of film music make positive, rather than negative, contributions to a film? It depends, I guess. Filmmakers have been doing it for years, and often with atribution. When it works, nobody squawks; when it doesn't, it becomes the topic of conversation. Nevertheless, the source should be referenced so that the wrong composer doesn't get the credit.allen doubiletnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-40510547101671846182012-01-10T13:41:38.421-05:002012-01-10T13:41:38.421-05:00Great post, Joe, very persuasive. And I agree with...Great post, Joe, very persuasive. And I agree with Gregg. "The Artist" loses the moments of introspection that I so carefully builds when the Hermann suite is introduced. It was a complete distraction. What was the filmmaker thinking?Tim Barrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-11408489785817635082012-01-10T13:30:10.720-05:002012-01-10T13:30:10.720-05:00Long time reader, first time poster. The use of th...Long time reader, first time poster. The use of the "Vertigo" music bugged me, too, when I saw the film - but for different reasons. It took me out of the story completely. Too intrusive. But I agree with you not too many people who see the film will recognize it or even be aware of its source and that's just not right.Gregg Bakernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-41737439254164607542012-01-10T13:08:53.971-05:002012-01-10T13:08:53.971-05:00Am always intrigued by the topic of
music theft. W...Am always intrigued by the topic of<br />music theft. Was stunned by the great use of an entire movement from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony in the climactic final section of "The King's Speech."<br /><br />Then up come the credits with a whole screen to himself: "Music By <br />Alexander Desplat."<br /><br />Oh, really?<br /><br />Only toward the middle and end of the credits did it say two tiny things about "Source music licensed by from blah blah"<br /><br />What an outrage!P.R.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18439960.post-33652265575316895272012-01-10T12:44:56.174-05:002012-01-10T12:44:56.174-05:00Lots of self-consciously stylish touches in terms ...Lots of self-consciously stylish touches in terms of camera position and movement (many oddly angled close-ups) in "The Artist," but for my taste there just was not much “story” there and I agree with you that the actor's adamant decision not to talk on screen seemed kinda whacky.Jennifer Theissennoreply@blogger.com