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Post by moviemouth on Nov 20, 2020 7:57:09 GMT
It seems to me that many people like one or the other, but not both. I like all styles of acting as long as it is good acting. Maybe this makes it hard for me to see the difference now. It may also come down to exposure. The vast majority of movies I've seen date from the 60s onwards, so the older style of acting seems odd to me. I don't think I'm particularly unusual in that regard. Couple that with the fact that vintage movies were made at a time when the technical limitations were far greater, were often filmed in black and white and when a stricter censorship code was in place and the end result is movies that can be less easily relatable to modern day audiences more au fait with a different style of acting. With that being said, I stand by that many performances from the era are more similar than you think. As I said, classic era foreign films were much closer to modern day movies than U.S. movies were. I did think the way you and many people do before I started watching them on a regular basis. There are a variety of different styles back then and some were no different than now. Some are somewhat different and some are very different. The technical limitations were a problem in some regard, but not in most movies. My biggest issue with older movies is the censorship code. The unrealistic kissing, married but sleep in separate beds, lack of blood etc., but these are only issues in some movies. Take a look at The Dark Knight for example, a lot of killing, but no blood. Nobody complains here. The interrogation room scene is especially ridiculous in this regard. The married in separate beds is only an issue with movies where people are married and where they show their bedroom. This happens in far less movies than you might think. I have seen some 500 movies from that era. There are many pre-1960's movies that are in color and film on location btw. Not to mention you still have people who complain about overacting in modern movies. The fact is that I like a bit of exaggeration. Daniel Day-Lewis and Gary Oldman often get quite theatrical. Nicolas Cage is probably the prime example. You may not know this, but he has said that his style is heavily inspired by silent film acting.
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on Nov 20, 2020 15:57:25 GMT
I do think the lines are more receited, but I agree it's more natural than melodramatic.
Another thing about old movies is they talk a lot about sex in them, just not a lot of sex scenes.
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Post by mortsahlfan on Nov 20, 2020 21:31:35 GMT
Did you even read my OP? You just re-stated the misconception that I am talking about. Sorry, man. It was late when I posted the above and I haven't gotten much sleep for the last few nights, so my concentration is gone. I stand by my assertion though that a large proportion of vintage movies I've seen (as in pre-60s) contain a heavy amount of theatre-style acting that's uncommon in movies from later decades. In fairness to the actors, I think the cinematography and the studio sets and not just the acting itself add to the problem. I haven't seen nearly enough movies from these earlier decades to give a detailed critique on such matters, as most of my movie-watching focusses on titles running from the 60s onwards, by which time a more immersive style was coming into vogue. Based on what I have seen to date, I'm gonna have to disagree with you for now.
I think most of what you see is a result from the transition to thousands of years of theatre, when actors had to be loud and project to the folks in the back, etc.
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Post by darkreviewer2013 on Nov 21, 2020 8:02:10 GMT
Sorry, man. It was late when I posted the above and I haven't gotten much sleep for the last few nights, so my concentration is gone. I stand by my assertion though that a large proportion of vintage movies I've seen (as in pre-60s) contain a heavy amount of theatre-style acting that's uncommon in movies from later decades. In fairness to the actors, I think the cinematography and the studio sets and not just the acting itself add to the problem. I haven't seen nearly enough movies from these earlier decades to give a detailed critique on such matters, as most of my movie-watching focusses on titles running from the 60s onwards, by which time a more immersive style was coming into vogue. Based on what I have seen to date, I'm gonna have to disagree with you for now.
I think most of what you see is a result from the transition to thousands of years of theatre, when actors had to be loud and project to the folks in the back, etc.
Oh, I don't doubt it. Most actors of an earlier vintage would have honed their skills on the stage and it very much shows.
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