I discovered that silent film is almost an advantage. You just have to think of the feeling for it to show. No lines pollute it. It doesn't take much - a gaze, an eyelash flutter - for the emotion to be vivid.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The less lines, the better. I am the silent film actor, but not in a slapstick sort of way. Film is an image-based medium, so whatever you can say without the words is far more provocative and punctuating. If the lines are not funny or if they don't advance the story, sometimes it's hard. I hate talk in movies.
I always loved silent movies. I was not a specialist, but I loved them. And when I started directing, I became really fascinated by the format - how it works, the device of the silent movie. It's not the same form of expression as a talkie. The lack of sounds makes you participate in the storytelling.
When you see a silent movie, you understand everything that's going on from the images because the images are so strong.
The best reason to make a film is that you feel passionately about it.
I like some of the early silent films because I love to watch how actors had to play then. What would interest me today is to do a silent film.
It is also difficult to articulate the subtleties in cinema, because there aren't words or metaphors which describe many of the emotions you are attempting to evoke.
There's a reason why I use film. It's because it's the best representation of how our eyes work. I really believe that. I think it's better than digital.
I focus on the elements of a movie that are meant to invisibly affect me as a viewer. The edges. As an author, I'm aware of how the subconscious things can pluck at a reader's emotions, and I love it when filmmakers do the same.
I hate this idea in the Cinematheque that you must watch silent movies with no music, like it's a piece of art. It's not true.
I'm a big fan of film for one reason: because it is visual.