Last night, despite having been here for over a month and fancying myself decently advanced in my conversational french, I was reduced to a deer in the headlights by an encounter that readily required a response- a response I definitely had the vocabulary for. But when I opened my mouth to respond, not a single word came out.
Feeling very discouraged I lamented to a friend-
- My french is getting worse.
- No. It's not. That happens. It always gets worse before it gets better.
He went on to describe how when learning a language there comes a point when your brain begins transferring your language skills to a different part of your brain- from memorisation to instinctual. And this process can make you feel as if you are getting worse, when really you're getting better. I don't know if that's the case for me, I may just be around too many anglophones. But nevertheless, feeling wholly relieved, we linked arms, descended into the metro, doubled up in the turn style because he forgot his Navigo, and were off to the Cinema to see The Artist.
Sunk deep in our red velvety seats, watching the end credits roll, tears brimming in our eyes, all either of us could muster was a simultaneous, "Wow." This time it was my english vocabulary had abandoned me.
Before we entered the theater we had been expressign our disappointment in the line up of films this year. Where was our Slumdog?!
But here is was. Pure magic from the opening close up to the closing crane out. . Finally, a film that was experienced rather than watched, a film that was about something rather than someone (don't get me started with this new fascination with biopics), a film with a soul that hadn't sold out. An ode to cinema and its origins. A work of art.
(Don't worry, no spoiler alerts outside of what is in the trailer)
The Artist tells the story of a celebrated silent movie star, George Valentin. He is at the height of his career when the Great Depression hits; the invention of the Talky. Yes, the stock market crashes too, but for him the greater tragedy is the rapid adaptation to this absurd new techonology. He stubbornly resists to accept the future and is thus out of a job, out of a career, out of a raison d'etre.
On one level we're talking directly about the film industry. Switching from film to digital, from 2D to 3D. Those who resist the movements are seen as proud and stubborn- dinosaurs. Movies have only benefitted from the invention of sync sound. Milestones have ben crossed, masterpieces have been made. Watching The Artist it's easy to see the parisian Director Michel Hazanavicius right there chillin' with James Cameron saying "Accept the inevitable. Film is Dead." Since clearly, we all know what happened to silent films...
But then, remember what you just watched. A silent, black and white film with an archetypal story, in a hyperbolic world that somehow convinced you to go along for the ride. And then once you buckled up, it successfully made you feel for George at every romantic high or miserable low without a single spoken line of dialogue. But silent films are dead , right?
Throughout the main characters resistance to accept the new status quo he repeatedly says (in title cards, of course) " I won't speak." " I can't do it." " I don't want to talk." He even tries to speak in one scene and no words come out.
At this point, having already been 99% invested in the film, I fell to my knees and bowed down to the alter of Michel Hazanvicius. Had I not shared the same experience just a mere 2 hours before?
As technology evolves and advances, we are constantly required to learn new languages. With Facebook alone ordinary words took on completely different meanings.( Friend (vb) -ing -ed; Wall; tag; News feed)
Revolutionary technological advances replace and render their predecessor obsolete and unnecessary. Electricity vs. Oil Lamps for instance; or the iPhone vs. basically every other electronic device you've ever owned. Over the course of a couple months or years, the new language becomes second nature and we adopt the new invention into our lives. And the obseledia which it replaced begins by collecting dust in basements, then is piled in shelves at Goodwills and flea markets, proceeds to be recycled at landfills, and the finally lands in museums.
With one exception.
Advances in Art do not replace, they multiply. The language of art is such that once a new medium is created it can never disappear because all subsequent mediums are derived from the one before it and owe their existence to it. There is always new vocabulary to learn but you never have to learn a new language. Art can never be rendered obsolete. Although it does often wind up in museums :)
Financially, it seems inevitable that digital will replace film, and 3D will become more popular. But a technological advance is by no means synonymous with an advancement in quality. We won't be making better movies because they are in digital.
The Artist reminds us that film is an art form and to be a filmmaker you must be, well, an Artist. And if you approach filmmaking as an artist your film will always be composed with grammar and vocab from the Language of Film (Also the name of one of my favourite classes I took at NYU, taught by Nick Tanis) because you are drawing on the origins of filmmaking.
As my friend said, it always gets worse before it gets better. Isn't that the truth with all transformations? When we fight to keep the status quo, dig our heels in, hunker down for the fight, stubbornness and pride lead us valiantly to our own self destruction.
We fear we will lose something by accepting something else. But what about what we can gain? We can have both . We can carry on the cinematic tradition of completely captivating an audience in a digital and 3D world.
The Artist is proof of that.
But I guess what I'm really trying to say is; Don't worry, my french is not getting worse, it's actually getting better. But even when my French has finally transferred to the correct lobe, it will not replace my English, I will still be able to talk to you.
but in the meantime I will take the advice of this video:
