Allow me to wax sentimental for a moment because I cried this week while cloaked by the ethereal cloak of the cinema. I’ve recently seen two films: The Artist and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – and I won’t say which one turned on the water works, but it happened and I’m not ashamed. However, once I put away my hanky, I was struck by the common ground of these two films that, at first thought, appear completely incongruous. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, after all, is about a child coping with the loss of a father that died in the attack on the World Trade Center and The Artist is about a silent film star confronting the advent of “talkies” – a new type of Hollywood that appears to have no place for the likes of him. The latter also had much more dancing.
And did I mention that they both had John Goodman?
But there were wonderful parallels amidst this double-feature. Here we have two protagonists caught between a moment that divides their past & future with a cosmic cleaver. They’re about how, in a day, a morning, a moment, our lives can change forever and how this will inevitably happen to each of us, all in different, unfair, and wild ways. It is, as Oskar Schell from EL&IC often says, “heavy boots.”
Or, as George Valentin from the Artist might say:
"....."
The Artist was an amazing assessment of film – and all enterprises, in general – modern and past. We, the audience, know that George is wrong in his pithy dismissal of the idea that “talkies” will be the future of movies, and yet here we are, 83 years from the beginning of the film, watching a perfectly communicated story without a sound beyond the occasional musical companion. The stretches of silence were jarring at first, especially as the audience became increasingly aware of the sound of their popcorn crunching, but then you begin to realize the over-saturation of sound we confront everyday and the reprieve from the world’s din begins to feel like a vacation away from modernity, celebrating the simplicity of something long past but all while simultaneously lauding the progress we’ve made, and the importance of respecting the changing, growing world.
And did I mention that it had John Goodman?
Oskar Schell also has his struggle to accept his future, one without his father. It’s both traumatic and amusing as we watch Oskar become obsessed with finding the lock that belongs to a certain key (or does the key belong to the lock?) in desperate belief that it will preserve the memory of his father and null the feeling of loss. Again, we see the self-destruction of refusing the future, but it wonderfully demonstrates the pain and hardship that comes with confronting this issue. Unfortunately, in the last five minutes of the film Hollywood rushed in and brought with it a shallow and contrived ending that negates the heart-wrenching insight that preceded.
But remember: it also had John Goodman
But all-in-all, Oskar learns to accept the future, even if it is one without his father, just as George Valentin adapts to a future Hollywood without him as the star. Both films regard the future & the past, not as opposing parts of our timeline but as inseparable and integral to our life, for better and for worse, and it reminds us that the most important thing we can do is evolve with it, especially when it isn’t easy. Oskar’s future will forever be one without his dad, but it’s a future that is prefaced with the love and support of his father. And The Artist‘s future is one paved by the past, silent film stars like George Valentin.
Take some time and go see both and surrender yourself to them. Even if either isn’t your ideal, it won’t be time wasted.
Also, between the entire premise of The Artist and Oskar’s mute uncle in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close the power of shutting up once in a while is highly revered. I’d go more in-depth, but that might be a bit counter-intuitive.
"Talk to the hand. Seriously."
What did you think of these films? Any different reactions? Anybody else cry? Or am I just a big softie?
Cheers.
Oh, I definitely cried. I’ve read negative reviews of the young boy’s performance, and I find them absurd. He did a tremendous job. Great post–so much can be revealed by inquiring into the connections between two seemingly unrelated works.
I think I’m heartless, because I was really not fond of Loud/Close as a book. Haven’t seen the movie, but I’m glad you say it is better than the “Illuminated” production, a book I loved. That was only only an abysmal adaptation of a book, but just a terrible movie.
I didn’t go see the movie because I felt the book was…well, you know. That said, wasn’t that Oskar’s mute grandfather? Picking nits, I know.