The silent movie is an emotional cinema: it's sensory; the fact that you don't go through a text brings you back to a basic way of telling a story predicated on the feelings you have created. Michel Hazanavicius More Quotes by Michel Hazanavicius More Quotes From Michel Hazanavicius To me the recognition of the audience is part of the filmmaking process. When you make a movie, it's for them. Michel Hazanavicius recognitionmovieactors If you try to make a silent movie with a normal script and you just pull out the dialogue, you will have big problems with the actors because you will ask them to tell a story that you don't know. Michel Hazanavicius actorsstoriestrying It's about storytelling. The story is told through images. So with the cast, I had to make sure that the emotions were readable without sound... I know some great actors, if you turn off the sound, you don't really know what they're saying Michel Hazanavicius actorsstoriessound I guess George Clooney would be a wonderful silent actor, and Leonardo DiCaprio is such a wonderful actor he certainly could do it. Michel Hazanavicius actorswould-bewonderful There's always been a struggle with filmmakers between art and industry, and you have to find a balance Michel Hazanavicius balancestruggleart When you look at the early-'30s movies, like King Kong, the codes of acting are very similar to those of silent movies. In some of the silent movies - the good ones, the ones done by the best directors - the acting is very, very natural Michel Hazanavicius actingkingsdirectors It's just incredible. When you're French, coming from a non-English language country, you don't even dream about Oscar recognition or nominations. It's just beyond the dream. It's something very, very special and unique. It's the highest recognition any filmmaker could dream of Michel Hazanavicius uniquedreamcountry Sometimes I think you have to try to do things that people don't think are doable. I remember at the very beginning actually, the first person I had to convince was myself really because there's a self-censorship. When everybody says 'we don't do silent movies anymore,' you agree with everybody, and you say 'yeah, you're right.' It was a fantasy. Michel Hazanavicius selfpeoplethinking French cinema audiences usually don't express anything. Certainly not satisfaction. Michel Hazanavicius audiencecinemasatisfaction I want to thank three person: I want to thank Billy Wilder. I want to thank Billy Wilder. And I want to thank Billy Wilder. Michel Hazanavicius wilderthreewant I thought 'The Artist' was a perfect way to find a good balance. The artistic challenge is obvious because the film is black-and-white and its silent, but I did my best to make the movie accessible and easy to watch. I really don't want to make elitist movies. I really try hard to work for the audience. Audiences are smart. They get everything. Michel Hazanavicius smartblack-and-whiteartist I guess all the directors in France are influenced by Hitchcock, because he's the perfect visual director, in my eyes. Michel Hazanavicius eyeperfect The fact that I made a special movie with an old-fashioned style - even if it's a mix between with modern and old-fashioned things - must mean I feel both ways about change. In a way I'm resisting, but in a way adapting myself to the times. Michel Hazanavicius stylespecialmean Actually, I met a lot of directors and most of them have that fantasy to make a silent movie because for directors it's the purest way to tell a story. It's about creating images that tell a story and you don't need dialogue for that. Michel Hazanavicius creatingstoriesneeds I make almost all the decisions on set and have to deal with all the financial aspects. Michel Hazanavicius aspectfinancialdecision Usually, when you do a period movie, you just recreate what you are shooting. You don't recreate the way you shoot it. I think I did the same thing here as I did in the OSS 117 movies. I recreated the way to shoot that period, because to me, like what I was saying about the Steadicam, there's no sense to do a Steadicam shot in the 1920s because you have never seen the '20s like that. You can't believe there was a Steadicam in the 1920s. I believe it's a continuation of the OSS 117 in a way but without the irony. Michel Hazanavicius shootingbelievethinking I'm very happy in France making movies. Michel Hazanavicius very-happyfrance Sure, I watched a lot of Hollywood movies. Maybe I've seen more Hollywood movies than French movies Michel Hazanavicius french-movieshollywood-movieshollywood When you do not have the dialogue to explain things, you will use everything to show and to tell the story. I think that this is what makes you believe that it is impeccable Michel Hazanavicius storiesbelievethinking I think there's something in common with the OSS 117 movies. The big difference is there's no irony in this one. It's not parody. I tried to make it very simple. It's a simple story, but to be simple, it's very complex in the way it's done. Michel Hazanavicius differencessimplethinking
