Silent Movie wins at The Oscars
Having discussed The Artist鈥檚 Oscar nominations last week, here, Dr Jonathan Ervine at the shares his views about Sunday night鈥檚 successes.
鈥淭he success of The Artist at the Oscars crowns an amazing year for French film which has seen the highest number of people going to cinemas in France for almost half a century. The film鈥檚 five Oscars include several of the most significant prizes on offer, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.鈥�
鈥淛ean Dujardin鈥檚 Best Actor statuette in Los Angeles saw him win a prize which had escaped him two nights before in Paris at Les C茅sars, France鈥檚 equivalent of The Oscars. Best actor at Les C茅sars was Omar Sy, for his role in Intouchables (Untouchables), which in 2011 became the second most watched French film of all time after attracting a massive 19 million spectators.鈥�
鈥淒ujardin became the first Frenchman to win Best Actor at the Oscars on the same night as The Artist became the first French film to win Best Picture. The list of winners at Sunday night鈥檚 ceremony had a certain symmetry to it. Five awards went to The Artist, a French film set in Los Angeles, and another five went to Hugo, an American film set in Paris.鈥�
鈥淔ollowing its Oscar success, I hope that The Artist will now be given a well-deserved extended run at more British cinemas. Here at 58吃瓜, we run several popular modules on French and European cinema. This shows that there is considerable interest in such films.鈥�
Publication date: 26 February 2012