I think the films Amelie and The Artist do a great job of
putting international films back on the international stage. How do these two
films deal with realism, institutional critique, and questions of the individual
vis a vis community? Amelia dose this by shooting the film on real locations
and not having happen in the film that wasn’t unbelievable. Everything that
happened in the movie was completely believable to have had happened. A lot of
people liked of Amelie. Amelie came out after 9/11 and was one the most popular
French movies to have launched in the United States. The Individual vs. Society
is one the biggest motivators in the movie. We see throughout the movie
multiple times we see Amelia help people in society. For example, we see Amelia
help a blind guy across the street and describe the setting to him. Another
time we see Amelia help someone in society is when Amelia sets up the clerk
with one of the waitress ex-boyfriend. The Artist does this by being
historically accurate. For example, we see that when we start seeing people
taking in movies is historically accurate. Also we see events from United States
history are portrayed correctly. One of those events was the stock market crash
that started the great depression. The Artist challenged the institution by
doing a throwback type of movie. In 2011, almost all movies in 2011 have full sound,
fully colored; while The Artist was a black and white movie and virtually no
sound. This was cool to see that movie doesn’t need the normal things we see in
movies today and still be a great movie. We see the individual vs society in a
different way in the Artist then we saw in Amelia. In The Artist we saw Society
kind of turn their backs on George because he wouldn’t do a talking movie.
George finally realizes this when he self produces a movie and barely anybody
went to the movies primer. The Artist is set in 1920’s Hollywood; while Amelia
is set in a French city. The Artist is filmed in a style of old 1920’s Hollywood
style; while Amelia is filmed in a more modern style.
OK--good on the idea of Amelie's way of helping with society....worth considering the problems with society here--can we compare them to BThief? Gallows? does the individual have power in those films? in Amelie?
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