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103-543: Blancanieves (known as Blancaneu in Catalan ) is a 2012 Spanish black-and-white silent drama film written and directed by Pablo Berger . Based on the 1812 fairy tale Snow White by the Brothers Grimm , the story is set in a romantic vision of 1920s Andalusia . However, the film approaches storytelling through the integration of Spanish culture from characters' names to traditions they follow. Additionally,
206-408: A beauty spot on her cheek, Peppy rises through the industry, earning more prominent starring roles. Two years later, Zimmer announces plans to cease production of silent films at Kinograph Studios, but Valentin is dismissive, insisting that sound is just a fad. In a dream, he begins hearing sounds from his environment (as does the audience) but cannot speak himself. He decides to leave the studio for
309-467: A silent film for many years, both because many filmmakers he admires emerged in the silent era, and because of the image-driven nature of the form. According to Hazanavicius, his wish to make a silent film was at first not taken seriously, but after the financial success of his spy-film pastiches OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and OSS 117: Lost in Rio , producers started to express interest. The forming of
412-747: A 2011 study the total number of Catalan speakers was over 9.8 million, with 5.9 million residing in Catalonia. More than half of them spoke Catalan as a second language, with native speakers being about 4.4 million of those (more than 2.8 in Catalonia). Very few Catalan monoglots exist; virtually all of the Catalan speakers in Spain are bilingual speakers of Catalan and Spanish, with 99.7% of Catalan speakers in Catalonia able to speak Spanish and 99.9% able to understand it. In Roussillon , only
515-455: A bite. She instantly falls to the ground, and the audience begins to panic. She is transferred into a glass coffin, as they are all under the impression she has died. Rather than laying her to rest, they create a spectacle out of her. They begin charging the public for an opportunity to kiss the famous bull fighter, Blancanieves. In the end, the focus shifts to Carmen lying in the casket, where a single tear runs down her cheek. The inspiration for
618-517: A dance scene with Peppy and Valentin and their tap-dancing can be heard. Once the choreography is complete, the two dancers are heard panting. The director of the musical calls, "Cut!" to which Zimmer adds: "Perfect. Beautiful. Could you give me just one more?" Valentin, in his only audible line, replies "With pleasure," revealing a French accent . The camera then pulls back to the sounds of the film crew as they prepare to shoot another take. Director Michel Hazanavicius had been fantasizing about making
721-424: A denomination based on cultural affinity and common heritage, that has also had a subsequent political interpretation but no official status. Various interpretations of the term may include some or all of these regions. The number of people known to be fluent in Catalan varies depending on the sources used. A 2004 study did not count the total number of speakers, but estimated a total of 9–9.5 million by matching
824-484: A dynamic effect on the visuals in the film. Techniques like this were not possible during the time in which silent films were popular. The film works to address and include various technologies throughout the past century. While the camera work and aspects of the picture are modern, there are also techniques and styles used that reflect film from the 20th century. 2012 saw the screening of two other loose adaptations of Snow White : Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and
927-448: A group of bull fighters find her and carry her to their home. When she comes to consciousness, she is unable to remember her history, including her name. They begin referring to her as Blancanieves, which translates to Snow White, because of her fair appearance. She grows close to the group of men, who are a traveling spectacle of bull fighters with dwarfism. Eventually she begins bullfighting herself, unaware that her natural skill comes from
1030-529: A large number of Catalan colonies that today continue to maintain the Catalan language. They also founded many Catalan casals (associations). One classification of Catalan is given by Pèire Bèc : However, the ascription of Catalan to the Occitano-Romance branch of Gallo-Romance languages is not shared by all linguists and philologists, particularly among Spanish ones, such as Ramón Menéndez Pidal . Catalan bears varying degrees of similarity to
1133-500: A minority of French Catalans speak Catalan nowadays, with French being the majority language for the inhabitants after a continued process of language shift . According to a 2019 survey by the Catalan government, 31.5% of the inhabitants of Catalonia predominantly spoke Catalan at home whereas 52.7% spoke Spanish, 2.8% both Catalan and Spanish and 10.8% other languages. Spanish was the most spoken language in Barcelona (according to
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#17328015315801236-666: A network of community-run schools engaged in Catalan language immersion programs. In Alicante province , Catalan is being replaced by Spanish and in Alghero by Italian . There is also well ingrained diglossia in the Valencian Community , Ibiza , and to a lesser extent, in the rest of the Balearic islands . During the 20th century many Catalans emigrated or went into exile to Venezuela , Mexico , Cuba , Argentina , and other South American countries. They formed
1339-1064: A shared history with the Western Romance innovative core, especially Occitan. Like all Romance languages, Catalan has a handful of native words which are unique to it, or rare elsewhere. These include: The Gothic superstrate produced different outcomes in Spanish and Catalan. For example, Catalan fang "mud" and rostir "to roast", of Germanic origin, contrast with Spanish lodo and asar , of Latin origin; whereas Catalan filosa "spinning wheel" and templa "temple", of Latin origin, contrast with Spanish rueca and sien , of Germanic origin. The same happens with Arabic loanwords. Thus, Catalan alfàbia "large earthenware jar" and rajola "tile", of Arabic origin, contrast with Spanish tinaja and teja , of Latin origin; whereas Catalan oli "oil" and oliva "olive", of Latin origin, contrast with Spanish aceite and aceituna . However,
1442-578: A statement: The Artist was made as a love letter to cinema, and grew out of my (and all of my cast and crew's) admiration and respect for movies throughout history. It was inspired by the work of Hitchcock, Lang , Ford , Lubitsch , Murnau and Wilder . I love Bernard Herrmann and his music has been used in many different films and I'm very pleased to have it in mine. I respect Kim Novak greatly and I'm sorry to hear she disagrees. Hazanavicius also told CNN "I used music from another movie, but it's not illegal. We paid for that, we asked for that and we had
1545-525: A transition from Medieval to Renaissance values, something that can also be seen in Metge 's work. The first book produced with movable type in the Iberian Peninsula was printed in Catalan. With the union of the crowns of Castille and Aragon in 1479, the Spanish kings ruled over different kingdoms, each with its own cultural, linguistic and political particularities, and they had to swear by
1648-617: A worldwide total of $ 133,432,856. After its success at the Academy Awards, the film saw a moderate boost the following week on the box office in North America. It appeared on the week's top 10 chart and got an increase of 34% while expanding its release from 966 theaters to 1,756. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 95% based on 327 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A crowd-pleasing tribute to
1751-644: Is a Western Romance language . It is the official language of Andorra , and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spain : Catalonia , the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community , where it is called Valencian ( valencià ). It has semi-official status in the Italian comune of Alghero , and it is spoken in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France and in two further areas in eastern Spain:
1854-404: Is about to attempt suicide. She tells him she only wanted to help him. They embrace, and Valentin tells her it is no use; no one wants to hear him speak. Remembering Valentin's superb dancing ability, Peppy persuades Zimmer to let her make a musical production so Valentin can avoid the humiliation of having to speak. Now the audience hears sound for the second time, as the film starts rolling for
1957-477: Is dramatically effective in its own right but is so well known that it yanks you out of one film and places you in the mind-set of another. Surely some sort of reworked equivalent would have been a better idea." At the 65th British Academy Film Awards , the film won seven awards, including Best Film, Best Actor for Dujardin, Best Original Screenplay for Hazanavicius, Cinematography for Schiffman, Costume Design for Bridges and Original Score for Ludovic Bource . At
2060-415: Is mandatory in all schools, but it is possible to use Spanish for studying in the public education system of Catalonia in two situations—if the teacher assigned to a class chooses to use Spanish, or during the learning process of one or more recently arrived immigrant students. There is also some intergenerational shift towards Catalan. More recently, several Spanish political forces have tried to increase
2163-425: Is now working for Peppy. His ego hurt, Valentin shows ingratitude for Peppy having taken him in, prompting Clifton to remind him of his changing luck. Peppy insists to Zimmer that Valentin co-star in her next film, threatening to quit Kinograph if he does not agree. After Valentin learns that Peppy bought his possessions at auction, he returns in despair to his burnt-out apartment. Peppy arrives and finds that Valentin
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#17328015315802266-413: Is often left helpless in a room, however Carmen spends time communicating as best as she can with her father. After consistent abuse and mistreatment, Carmen is fearful for her safety and wellbeing. One day, she is sent out into the woods to gather flowers. The huntsman is sent out after her, where he assaults her, attempts to drown her, and leaves her for dead. She is unconscious, floating downstream, when
2369-600: Is pronounced [kətəˈla] in the Eastern Catalan dialects, and [kataˈla] in the Western dialects. In the Valencian Community and Carche , the term valencià [valensiˈa] is frequently used instead. Thus, the name "Valencian", although often employed for referring to the varieties specific to the Valencian Community and Carche, is also used by Valencians as a name for
2472-490: Is to be congratulated on the grounds of pleasure alone. He may be due for much more in the way of rewards." Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, praising the performances, and calling the film "one of the most entertaining films in many a moon, a film that charms because of its story, its performances and because of the sly way it plays with being silent and black and white." Writing for Slant Magazine , Jaime N. Christley gave
2575-503: Is used in the soundtrack, " Pennies from Heaven ", sung by Rose "Chi-Chi" Murphy (uncredited). This song was written in 1936 although the film is set between 1927 and 1932. The soundtrack was released on 10 October in France, and 21 October in the U.K. and U.S. through Sony Classical Records . The film premiered on 15 May 2011 in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival . It was initially announced as an out of competition entry, but
2678-599: The 69th Golden Globe Awards , it was announced Warner Bros. would re-release the film in France in 362 theaters on 25 January 2012. It was also re-released in Belgium on 22 February 2012. The Artist was released on region 1 DVD and Blu-ray on 26 June 2012. It was released in the UK by Entertainment in Video on 28 May 2012. The Artist grossed $ 44,671,682 in North America, along with $ 88,761,174 in other territories for
2781-419: The 69th Golden Globe Awards , the film was nominated for six Golden Globes to win three of them; Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy , Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Dujardin and Best Musical Score for Bource. At the 84th Academy Awards , The Artist received ten nominations, winning five awards, including Best Picture , Best Director for Hazanavicius, Best Actor in
2884-749: The Crown of Aragon , and Catalan was present all over the Mediterranean world. During this period, the Royal Chancery propagated a highly standardized language. Catalan was widely used as an official language in Sicily until the 15th century, and in Sardinia until the 17th. During this period, the language was what Costa Carreras terms "one of the 'great languages' of medieval Europe". Martorell 's novel of chivalry Tirant lo Blanc (1490) shows
2987-467: The Gascon dialect ) is similar to the distance among different Occitan dialects. Catalan was considered a dialect of Occitan until the end of the 19th century and still today remains its closest relative. Catalan shares many traits with the other neighboring Romance languages (Occitan, French, Italian , Sardinian as well as Spanish and Portuguese among others). However, despite being spoken mostly on
3090-485: The Honor Award of Catalan Letters (1969). The first Catalan-language TV show was broadcast in 1964. At the same time, oppression of the Catalan language and identity was carried out in schools, through governmental bodies, and in religious centers. In addition to the loss of prestige for Catalan and its prohibition in schools, migration during the 1950s into Catalonia from other parts of Spain also contributed to
3193-486: The Iberian Peninsula , Catalan has marked differences with the Iberian Romance group ( Spanish and Portuguese ) in terms of pronunciation , grammar, and especially vocabulary; it shows instead its closest affinity with languages native to France and northern Italy, particularly Occitan and to a lesser extent Gallo-Romance ( Franco-Provençal , French , Gallo-Italian ). According to Ethnologue ,
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3296-514: The consul in Barcelona was also asked. He declared that Catalan "is taught in schools, it is printed and spoken, not only among the lower class, but also among people of first quality, also in social gatherings, as in visits and congresses", indicating that it was spoken everywhere "with the exception of the royal courts". He also indicated that Catalan was spoken "in the Kingdom of Valencia, in
3399-627: The eastern strip of Aragon and the Carche area in the Region of Murcia . The Catalan-speaking territories are often called the Països Catalans or "Catalan Countries". The language evolved from Vulgar Latin in the Middle Ages around the eastern Pyrenees . Nineteenth-century Spain saw a Catalan literary revival , culminating in the early 1900s. The word Catalan is derived from
3502-576: The laws of each territory before the respective parliaments . But after the War of the Spanish Succession , Spain became an absolute monarchy under Philip V , which led to the assimilation of the Crown of Aragon by the Crown of Castile through the Nueva Planta decrees , as a first step in the creation of the Spanish nation-state ; as in other contemporary European states, this meant
3605-422: The non-diegetic soundtrack. Throughout the shoot, Hazanavicius played music from classic Hollywood films while the actors performed. The film was produced by La Petite Reine and ARP Sélection for 13.47 million euro, including co-production support from Studio 37 and France 3 Cinéma , and pre-sales investment from StudioCanal and CinéCinéma. The cast and the crew included both French and American members. All
3708-619: The 11th and 14th centuries. During the 11th and 12th centuries the Catalan rulers expanded southward to the Ebro river , and in the 13th century they conquered the lands that would become the Kingdoms of Valencia and the Majorca . The city of Alghero in Sardinia was repopulated with Catalan speakers in the 14th century. The language also reached Murcia , which became Spanish-speaking in
3811-672: The 15th century. In the Low Middle Ages , Catalan went through a golden age, reaching a peak of maturity and cultural richness. Examples include the work of Majorcan polymath Ramon Llull (1232–1315), the Four Great Chronicles (13th–14th centuries), and the Valencian school of poetry culminating in Ausiàs March (1397–1459). By the 15th century, the city of Valencia had become the sociocultural center of
3914-459: The 19th century saw a Catalan literary revival ( Renaixença ), which has continued up to the present day. This period starts with Aribau 's Ode to the Homeland (1833); followed in the second half of the 19th century, and the early 20th by the work of Verdaguer (poetry), Oller (realist novel), and Guimerà (drama). In the 19th century, the region of Carche , in the province of Murcia
4017-542: The 20th century, focused on the story of a female lead. The main character's name, Carmen , emphasizes the importance of the characters divinity, as it means "song" or "garden". However, she fits into the mold of traditional beauty standards set up for women, that have been present since much earlier than just films in the 20th century. This form of representation is often critiqued, as are minimal forms of diversity represented, yet still adhere to most traditional beauty norms. Catalan language Catalan ( català )
4120-617: The Academy's Douglas Fairbanks exhibition and screening events both in Los Angeles and New York City, afforded Hollywood's first swashbuckling hero and the Academy's first president some significant media attention. Principal photography on The Artist began in November 2010, taking place over the course of thirty-five days, made in the 1.33:1 screen ratio commonly used in the silent film era. Though presented in black-and-white, it
4223-469: The Arabic element is generally much more prevalent in Spanish. Situated between two large linguistic blocks (Iberian Romance and Gallo-Romance), Catalan has many unique lexical choices, such as enyorar "to miss somebody", apaivagar "to calm somebody down", and rebutjar "reject". Traditionally Catalan-speaking territories are sometimes called the Països Catalans (Catalan Countries),
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4326-660: The Huntsman . On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , Blancanieves holds an approval rating of 95%, based on 112 reviews, and an average rating of 7.8/10. Its consensus reads: "Smartly written and beautiful to behold, Blancanieves uses its classic source material to offer a dark tale, delightfully told." On Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "Universal acclaim". The Guardian ' s Peter Bradshaw called it "extraordinarily enjoyable", awarding it five stars out of five and saying Pablo Berger "finds new life and heart in
4429-894: The Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis to the south. From the 8th century onwards the Catalan counts extended their territory southwards and westwards at the expense of the Muslims , bringing their language with them. This process was given definitive impetus with the separation of the County of Barcelona from the Carolingian Empire in 988. In the 11th century, documents written in macaronic Latin begin to show Catalan elements, with texts written almost completely in Romance appearing by 1080. Old Catalan shared many features with Gallo-Romance , diverging from Old Occitan between
4532-595: The Spanish province of Alicante settled around Oran , while those from French Catalonia and Menorca migrated to Algiers . By 1911, there were around 100,000 speakers of Patuet , as their speech was called. After the Algerian declaration of independence in 1962, almost all the Pied-Noir Catalan speakers fled to Northern Catalonia or Alicante. The French government only recognizes French as an official language. Nevertheless, on 10 December 2007,
4635-423: The burning house, clutching a single film canister. However, Valentin's dog attracts the help of a nearby policeman, and after being rescued, Valentin is hospitalized for injuries suffered in the fire. Peppy visits the hospital and discovers that the film he rescued is the one with them dancing together. She asks for him to be moved to her house to recuperate. Valentin awakens in a bed at her house to find that Clifton
4738-507: The cameras. The next day, Peppy is on the front page of Variety with the headline "Who's That Girl?" She capitalizes by auditioning as a dancer and is spotted by Valentin, who insists that she have a part in Kinograph Studios' next production, despite objections from studio boss Al Zimmer. While performing a scene in which they dance together, Valentin and Peppy show great chemistry. With a little guidance from Valentin, who draws
4841-515: The chance to produce, finance, and direct his own silent film, Tears of Love . The film opens on the same day as Peppy's new sound film Beauty Spot and the 1929 Stock Market Crash . Valentin's only chance of avoiding bankruptcy is for his film to be a hit. Unfortunately, audiences flock to Peppy's film instead, while only a few people attend Valentin's. With Valentin ruined, his wife, Doris, kicks him out, and he moves into an apartment with his valet/chauffeur, Clifton, and his dog. Peppy quickly becomes
4944-419: The diminished use of the language. These migrants were often unaware of the existence of Catalan, and thus felt no need to learn or use it. Catalonia was the economic powerhouse of Spain, so these migrations continued to occur from all corners of the country. Employment opportunities were reduced for those who were not bilingual . Daily newspapers remained exclusively in Spanish until after Franco's death, when
5047-400: The film Blancanieves follows the life of Carmen. Her mother died during childbirth, and her father was left paralyzed after a traumatic bull fighting incident shortly before her birth. Her grandmother cares for her, but after her death, she is left in the care of her step-mother who married her father for his fame and riches he accumulated as a bull fighter. She mistreats Carmen's father, as he
5150-527: The film "a real pleasure"; "propelled elegantly forward by delightful performances from Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo it is the most unlikely of feel-good movies." He added however: "The film does feel a little sluggish towards the end of the first third as the music is a little repetitive and the intertitles are infrequent, but Hazanavicius manages to give the film a real sense of charm and warmth, and film fans will be competing to spot visual and musical references." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described how
5253-499: The film "had me on my feet cheering throughout the final credits" and stated "I can't wait to see it again". Geoffrey McNab at The Independent called the film "both a surefire crowdpleaser and a magnificent piece of film-making" in his 5 star review from the Cannes Film Festival . Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail assessed The Artist highly, noting the film "uses old technology to dazzling effect to illustrate
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#17328015315805356-493: The film alludes to other fairy tales including Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood . While it retells stories originally told through tales based in fantasy, it derails from the traditional storytelling method that ends with a happily ever after. Instead, the film is rather dark and ends in tragedy. Berger calls it a "love letter to European silent cinema." Blancanieves was Spain's 85th Academy Awards official submission to Best Foreign Language category, but it did not make
5459-471: The film began when writer-director Pablo Berger saw a photograph of bullfighting dwarves in España Oculta (1989, ISBN 8477820686 ), by Cristina García Rodero . By 2003, Berger had written Blancanieves and was working to raise funds for it soon after his film Torremolinos 73 was appearing at festivals. In May 2011, he was working on the storyboards for Blancanieves , a film he had in
5562-403: The film four out of four stars, writing that the film "Is a full-bodied silent film of the sort that might have been made by the greatest directors of the 1920s, if such details as the kinky sadomasochism of this film's evil stepmother could have been slipped past the censors." Later, he chose it to be shown at the 2013 Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival . The film, while resembling styles of
5665-477: The film one-and-a-half out of four stars, explaining Michel Hazanavicius ignores "everything that's fascinating and memorable about the era, focusing instead on a patchwork of general knowledge, so eroded of inconvenient facts that it doesn't even qualify as a roman à clef ." America argued that while Jean Dujardin carried the film, Bejo's performance was disappointing. On 9 January 2012, actress Kim Novak stated that "rape" had been metaphorically committed in
5768-498: The film's licensed use of a portion of Bernard Herrmann 's score from Alfred Hitchcock 's 1958 film Vertigo (in which Novak starred). The final portion of The Artist is accompanied not by original music, but by a 1992 recording of the Herrmann composition Scene d'Amour , conducted by Elmer Bernstein . In the article published, by Variety , she stated that "I feel as if my body—or at least my body of work—has been violated by
5871-453: The film's narrative started with Hazanavicius' desire to work again with actors Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo , who had both starred in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies . Hazanavicius chose the form of a melodrama , mostly because he thought many of the films from the silent era that have aged best are of that genre. He did extensive research about 1920s Hollywood, and studied silent films to find
5974-406: The first of several major new Hollywood sound film stars. Later, the bankrupt Valentin is forced to auction his personal effects, and after realizing he has not paid the loyal Clifton in over a year, gives him his car before firing him. Depressed and drunk, Valentin sets fire to a stack of his old films. As the nitrate film blazes out of control, he is overwhelmed by the smoke and passes out inside
6077-562: The first one in Catalan since the end of the Civil War, Avui , began to be published in 1976. Since the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–1982), Catalan has been institutionalized as an official language, language of education, and language of mass media; all of which have contributed to its increased prestige. In Catalonia , there is an unparalleled large bilingual European non-state linguistic community. The teaching of Catalan
6180-477: The imposition of the political and cultural characteristics of the dominant groups. Since the political unification of 1714, Spanish assimilation policies towards national minorities have been a constant. The process of assimilation began with secret instructions to the corregidores of the Catalan territory: they "will take the utmost care to introduce the Castilian language, for which purpose he will give
6283-426: The insistent conquest of a new technology." Sukanya Verma for Rediff.com feels The Artist is an extremely well-researched film and is an instant classic. David Thomson of The New Republic called The Artist an "accomplished and witty entertainment" and went on to write, "Whether Hazanavicius can do more things as elegant and touching, without the gimmick of silence, remains to be seen (and heard). Meanwhile, he
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#17328015315806386-476: The islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Sardinia, Corsica and much of Sicily, in the Vall d "Aran and Cerdaña". The defeat of the pro-Habsburg coalition in the War of Spanish Succession (1714) initiated a series of laws which, among other centralizing measures, imposed the use of Spanish in legal documentation all over Spain. Because of this, use of the Catalan language declined into the 18th century. However,
6489-588: The language as a whole, synonymous with "Catalan". Both uses of the term have their respective entries in the dictionaries by the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL) and the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC). (See also status of Valencian below). By the 9th century, Catalan had evolved from Vulgar Latin on both sides of the eastern end of the Pyrenees , as well as the territories of
6592-606: The language in features closer to Occitan (and French ). There is evidence that, at least from the 2nd century AD, the vocabulary and phonology of Roman Tarraconensis was different from the rest of Roman Hispania. Differentiation arose generally because Spanish, Asturian , and Galician-Portuguese share certain peripheral archaisms (Spanish hervir , Asturian and Portuguese ferver vs. Catalan bullir , Occitan bolir "to boil") and innovatory regionalisms (Spanish novillo , Asturian nuviellu vs. Catalan torell , Occitan taurèl "bullock"), while Catalan has
6695-622: The lexical similarity between Catalan and other Romance languages is: 87% with Italian; 85% with Portuguese and Spanish; 76% with Ladin and Romansh ; 75% with Sardinian; and 73% with Romanian. During much of its history, and especially during the Francoist dictatorship (1939–1975), the Catalan language was ridiculed as a mere dialect of Spanish . This view, based on political and ideological considerations, has no linguistic validity. Spanish and Catalan have important differences in their sound systems, lexicon, and grammatical features, placing
6798-486: The linguistic census held by the Government of Catalonia in 2013) and it is understood almost universally. According to 2013 census, Catalan was also very commonly spoken in the city of 1,501,262: it was understood by 95% of the population, while 72.3% over the age of two could speak it (1,137,816), 79% could read it (1,246.555), and 53% could write it (835,080). The share of Barcelona residents who could speak it (72.3%)
6901-461: The linguistic varieties subsumed under the cover term Occitan language (see also differences between Occitan and Catalan and Gallo-Romance languages ). Thus, as it should be expected from closely related languages, Catalan today shares many traits with other Romance languages. Some include Catalan in Occitan, as the linguistic distance between this language and some Occitan dialects (such as
7004-426: The location for the film's distinctive staircase sequence. The dance sequence that closes the film took seventeen takes, and required Dujardin and Bejo to spend five months studying tap dancing, with Dujardin claiming that "in the first week it's fun, the fifth week it's a little boring, at the end it's thrilling". American costume designer Mark Bridges created the wardrobe for the film's cast. The film's music
7107-437: The magic of silent cinema, The Artist is a clever, joyous film with delightful performances and visual style to spare." At Metacritic , which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews, the film received an average score of 89 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Mark Adams of Screen Daily called
7210-489: The most temperate and disguised measures so that the effect is achieved, without the care being noticed". From there, actions in the service of assimilation, discreet or aggressive, were continued, and reached to the last detail, such as, in 1799, the Royal Certificate forbidding anyone to "represent, sing and dance pieces that were not in Spanish". The use of Spanish gradually became more prestigious and marked
7313-430: The movie." "This film should've been able to stand on its own without depending on Bernard Herrmann's score from Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo to provide more drama" and that "It is morally wrong for the artistry of our industry to use and abuse famous pieces of work to gain attention and applause for other than what they were intended", ending her comments with "Shame on them!" In response, director Hazanavicius released
7416-453: The old myth – certainly more than the recent Hollywood retreads – and daringly locates possibilities for both evil and romance in the ranks of the dwarves themselves"; the director "takes inspiration from Hitchcock , with hints of Rebecca and Psycho , Buñuel , Browning and Almodóvar , and conjures a fascinatingly ambiguous ending: melancholy, eerie and erotic. A film to treasure." Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert gave
7519-507: The other hand, there are several language shift processes currently taking place. In the Northern Catalonia area of France, Catalan has followed the same trend as the other minority languages of France, with most of its native speakers being 60 or older (as of 2004). Catalan is studied as a foreign language by 30% of the primary education students, and by 15% of the secondary. The cultural association La Bressola promotes
7622-528: The percentage of speakers to the population of each area where Catalan is spoken. The web site of the Generalitat de Catalunya estimated that as of 2004 there were 9,118,882 speakers of Catalan. These figures only reflect potential speakers; today it is the native language of only 35.6% of the Catalan population. According to Ethnologue , Catalan had 4.1 million native speakers and 5.1 million second-language speakers in 2021. According to
7725-546: The permission to do it. For me there is no real controversy.... I feel sorry for her, but there's a lot of movies with music from other movies, directors do that all the time and I'm not sure it's a big deal." In May 2011, when the film was first shown at the Cannes Festival, Todd McCarthy from The Hollywood Reporter mentioned the use of Herrmann's music, "Hazanavicius and Bource daringly choose to explicitly employ Bernard Herrmann's love theme from Vertigo , which
7828-460: The population self-identifies with both Catalan and Spanish equally, 36.4% with Catalan and 47.5% only Spanish. In 2003 the same studies concluded no language preference for self-identification within the population above 15 years old: 5% self-identified with both languages, 44.3% with Catalan and 47.5% with Spanish. To promote use of Catalan, the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalonia's official Autonomous government) spends part of its annual budget on
7931-404: The promotion of the use of Catalan in Catalonia and in other territories, with entities such as Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística (Consortium for Linguistic Normalization). In Andorra , Catalan has always been the sole official language. Since the promulgation of the 1993 constitution , several policies favoring Catalan have been enforced, such as Catalan medium education. On
8034-567: The relationship between a rising young actress and an older silent film star as silent cinema falls out of fashion and is replaced by the " talkies ". The Artist received widespread critical acclaim and won many accolades. Dujardin won Best Actor at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival , where the film premiered. The film was nominated for six Golden Globes , the most of any 2011 film, and won three: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy , Best Original Score , and Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Dujardin. In January 2012, it
8137-546: The rest of the territories. (% of the population 15 years old and older). (% of the population 15 years old and older). The Artist (film) The Artist is a 2011 French comedy drama film in the style of a black-and-white silent film or part-talkie . It was written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius , produced by Thomas Langmann and stars Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo . The story takes place in Hollywood , between 1927 and 1932, and focuses on
8240-419: The right techniques to make the story comprehensible without having to use too many intertitles . The screenplay took four months to write and was principally inspired by the 1928 silent comedy, Show People . Chief among the influences shaping the screenplay's protagonist was Douglas Fairbanks . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ recent book Douglas Fairbanks , by Jeffrey Vance , as well as
8343-557: The scenes were shot in Los Angeles , primarily in Hollywood , but also in downtown theaters, restaurants and houses, including the one in which Mary Pickford lived. Soundstage work was done at Red Studios , and the studio lot itself doubled for part of the fictional Kinograph Studios lot, with Red's Lillian Way entrance doubling as the Kinograph entrance in several sequences. The iconic Bradbury Building in downtown L.A. provided
8446-610: The shortlist. The film won the Special Jury Prize and an ex-aequo Best Actress "Silver Shell" Award for Macarena García at the 2012 San Sebastián International Film Festival . It was also nominated in every category for which it was eligible at the 27th Goya Awards (except for Best Sound), winning ten Goya Awards , including the Best Film . As a Spanish adaptation of the Brother Grimm fairytale, Snow White ,
8549-569: The social level, including in schools and the University of Barcelona . The Catalan language and culture were still vibrant during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), but were crushed at an unprecedented level throughout the subsequent decades due to Francoist dictatorship (1939–1975), which abolished the official status of Catalan and imposed the use of Spanish in schools and in public administration in all of Spain , while banning
8652-613: The sole official language of the region. Shortly after the French Revolution (1789), the French First Republic prohibited official use of, and enacted discriminating policies against, the regional languages of France, such as Catalan, Alsatian , Breton , Occitan , Flemish , and Basque . After the French colony of Algeria was established in 1830, many Catalan-speaking settlers moved there. People from
8755-521: The start of the decline of Catalan. Starting in the 16th century, Catalan literature came under the influence of Spanish, and the nobles, part of the urban and literary classes became bilingual . With the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), Spain ceded the northern part of Catalonia to France , and soon thereafter the local Catalan varieties came under the influence of French , which in 1700 became
8858-570: The tale. Even on the cover of the Blancanieves DVD, there is text that reads, "They never told you the story like this before ..." emphasizing the idea that this interpretation is different from the others. While the silent, black and white aesthetic was applied to the film as an homage to films from the 20th century, it additionally used modern techniques to give the film a unique look. The cinematic techniques and style included depth throughout many shots. The styling of each shot provides
8961-462: The term referring to a person first appears in the mid 14th century as Catelaner , followed in the 15th century as Catellain (from Middle French ). It is attested a language name since at least 1652. The word Catalan can be pronounced in English as / ˈ k æ t ə l ə n , - æ n / KAT -ə-lən, -lan or / ˌ k æ t ə ˈ l æ n / KAT -ə- LAN . The endonym
9064-522: The territorial name of Catalonia , itself of disputed etymology. The main theory suggests that Catalunya ( Latin : Gathia Launia ) derives from the name Gothia or Gauthia ('Land of the Goths '), since the origins of the Catalan counts, lords and people were found in the March of Gothia , whence Gothland > Gothlandia > Gothalania > Catalonia theoretically derived. In English,
9167-865: The then General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales officially recognized Catalan as one of the départment's languages and seeks to further promote it in public life and education. In 1807, the Statistics Office of the French Ministry of the Interior asked the prefects for an official survey on the limits of the French language . The survey found that in Roussillon , almost only Catalan was spoken, and since Napoleon wanted to incorporate Catalonia into France, as happened in 1812,
9270-434: The time she spent practicing with her father as a child. Carmen's step-mother learns of Carmen's work as a bull fighter and is left in disbelief, as she thought Carmen was killed many years ago. She attends a fight, masked in a veil. After a successful fight in the bullfighting ring, the audience is throwing flowers to Carmen. The step-mother reaches out and offers her a poisoned apple. Carmen unsuspectingly takes it, and takes
9373-403: The use of Catalan in them. Between 1939 and 1943 newspapers and book printing in Catalan almost disappeared. Francisco Franco's desire for a homogeneous Spanish population resonated with some Catalans in favor of his regime, primarily members of the upper class, who began to reject the use of Catalan. Despite all of these hardships, Catalan continued to be used privately within households, and it
9476-609: The use of Spanish in the Catalan educational system. As a result, in May 2022 the Spanish Supreme Court urged the Catalan regional government to enforce a measure by which 25% of all lessons must be taught in Spanish. According to the Statistical Institute of Catalonia , in 2013 the Catalan language is the second most commonly used in Catalonia, after Spanish , as a native or self-defining language: 7% of
9579-406: The wall. The high concept was gone." According to Berger, Blancanieves is a " love letter to European silent cinema, ... especially French. Abel Gance for me is God. Movies like Napoleon , J'Accuse! , La Roue are extraordinary." Pablo Berger emphasized the idea that his silent film adaptation of the fairytale, Snow White , takes a much darker approach than traditional tellings of
9682-631: The works for eight years, and he was about to begin principal photography when news reached him that The Artist had been shown at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival : "Nobody knew about The Artist until it appeared in Cannes. It was completely out of the blue. I was in my office in Madrid, doing the storyboards for my film, when a producer friend sent me a text message from the festival saying, 'I've just seen The Artist, it's black and white and silent and it's going to be huge.' I almost threw my phone against
9785-498: Was able to survive Franco's dictatorship. At the end of World War II , however, some of the harsh measures began to be lifted and, while Spanish language remained the sole promoted one, limited number of Catalan literature began to be tolerated. Several prominent Catalan authors resisted the suppression through literature. Private initiative contests were created to reward works in Catalan, among them Joan Martorell prize (1947), Víctor Català prize (1953) Carles Riba award (1950), or
9888-543: Was also the first French-produced film to win Best Picture, the first mainly silent film to win since 1927's Wings won at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929, the first film presented in the 4:3 aspect ratio to win since 1953's From Here to Eternity , the first black-and-white film to win since 1993's Schindler's List , though the latter contained limited colour sequences; and the first 100% black-and-white film to win since 1960's The Apartment . In France it
9991-879: Was largely composed by Ludovic Bource , but includes works by other composers such as Alberto Ginastera 's "Estancia". The soundtrack was recorded in Belgium by the Brussels Philharmonic and was conducted by Ernst Van Tiel; the Brussels Jazz Orchestra also cooperated. The recording took place during six days in April 2011 at Flagey 's Studio 4 in Brussels. The film's climactic scene is set to Bernard Herrmann 's "Scène d'amour" from his score to Alfred Hitchcock 's film Vertigo . In Vertigo , that composition similarly accompanies an extended scene without dialogue. Only one song (sung, with lyrics)
10094-640: Was lower than that of the overall Catalan population, of whom 81.2% over the age of 15 spoke the language. Knowledge of Catalan has increased significantly in recent decades thanks to a language immersion educational system. An important social characteristic of the Catalan language is that all the areas where it is spoken are bilingual in practice: together with French in Roussillon, with Italian in Alghero, with Spanish and French in Andorra, and with Spanish in
10197-538: Was moved to the competition a week before the festival opened. The French regular release was on 12 October 2011 through Warner Bros. France . The Weinstein Company bought the distribution rights for the United States and Australia and Entertainment Film Distributors bought the UK distribution. The film was initially given a limited release in the United States on 23 November 2011. Following its wins at
10300-438: Was nominated for ten César Awards , winning six, including Best Film , Best Director for Hazanavicius, and Best Actress for Bejo. The Artist has received more awards than any other French film. In 1927, silent film star George Valentin is posing for pictures outside the premiere of his latest hit film when a young woman, Peppy Miller, accidentally bumps into him. Valentin reacts with humor and shows off with Peppy for
10403-415: Was nominated for twelve BAFTAs , the most of any film from 2011, and won seven, including Best Film , Best Director , Best Actor for Dujardin, and Best Original Screenplay for Hazanavicius. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won five, including Best Picture , Best Director for Hazanavicius, and Best Actor for Dujardin, making him the first French actor ever to win in this category. It
10506-590: Was repopulated with Valencian speakers. Catalan spelling was standardized in 1913 and the language became official during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939). The Second Spanish Republic saw a brief period of tolerance, with most restrictions against Catalan lifted. The Generalitat (the autonomous government of Catalonia, established during the Republic in 1931) made a normal use of Catalan in its administration and put efforts to promote it at
10609-438: Was shot in color by cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman . All the technical details, including lenses, lighting and camera moves, were calibrated to aesthetically match silent films of the period. To recreate the slightly sped-up look of 1920s silent films, the film was shot at a slightly lower frame rate of 22 fps as opposed to the standard 24 fps. Most of the film is silent, except for two brief scenes with sound as well as
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