Kadner: He enjoys sound of silence in a modern movie theater

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In this film publicity image released by The Weinstein Company, Jean Dujardin portrays George Valentin in "The Artist."

Updated: March 13, 2012 10:32AM

I knew what was going to happen even before my wife and I left the house to see “The Artist” at the Marcus Theaters in Orland Park.

Only a few weeks earlier, we had traveled to the same location to watch another movie.

People seated nearby loudly talked about their personal lives throughout the film.

They unwrapped snacks packed in plastic bags they had brought from home.

They asked each other questions about the movie because they had obviously not been paying attention at crucial times.

So I knew it was going to be worse this time because “The Artist” is basically a silent movie.

Nevertheless, I wanted to see “The Artist” because it has been rated four stars by almost every movie critic in the country. Its lead actor, lead actress and director have been nominated for Academy Awards.

Many folks are saying it could win the Oscar for best movie of the year.

And there was yet another reason I wanted to see the film.

I have never seen a silent movie in a theater with a live audience.

My father, who watched Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin in silent movies as a kid, would get teary-eyed talking about the movies of his youth.

I didn’t get it. I had seen a few silent movies on TV, but never could watch one from start to finish.

They were just too boring.

That’s the way many youngsters today feel about the old black-and-white movie classics that I love.

So when “The Artist” began generating buzz as the best movie of the year, I vowed to see what it was like to watch a silent movie in a theater.

Although there wouldn’t be any live music (my dad always talked about the movies being accompanied by live piano or organ music), I was hoping to get a taste of the experience he had as a youth.

Well, the movie started, and there was no sound.

I mean no dialogue. No music. And, wonder of wonders, no talking by the theater audience.

I couldn’t even hear anyone eating popcorn or sucking soda out of a paper cup through a straw (one of the tricks our neighbors had pulled during the previous visit to the theater).

As “The Artist” continued, there was music and even later a few sound effects.

But the theater was soooo quiet, I felt nervous shifting my weight in my seat for fear everyone would turn around and stare.

An elderly couple did walk out of the show. I can only guess that, incredibly, no one had told them “The Artist” was a silent movie.

I was captivated.

Although the actors on-screen could not be heard, it sure seemed like I could hear them.

Sometimes I could read their lips.

And that was really strange since this is a French film with some American actors in supporting roles, but many other cast members are from foreign countries.

Did the director have the actors mouth their lines in English for American distribution? Or was the movie just so well made and the acting so good that I could understand what they were saying without hearing the words?

The fact is that without dialogue, or computer-generated car crashes or a deafening soundtrack, I think the audience focused more on the actors.

You zoom in on their faces. You watch their body language more closely.

At least, I felt more involved than I usually am when I go to the movies.

Still, as fascinated as I was by the story on the big screen, I kept coming back to the reality around me.

“This audience is totally silent.”

The theater was less than half-full, which saddened me.

Few theaters in the south suburbs show what are considered to be “art films.”

I guess the operators feel the audience out this way isn’t refined enough to patronize that sort of movie.

And while “The Artist” would normally be placed in that category, it has received such widespread acclaim that distributors felt it could be released to a wider audience.

I thought the movie was terrific, but I’m always reluctant to recommend food or a movie to people I don’t know.

Tastes vary. I may love the original Vito and Nick’s pizza in Chicago, but I wouldn’t suggest the place to someone who told me they liked Nancy’s deep dish (although I might recommend Pizzeria Due).

I will say that, in my opinion, Jean Dujardin’s performance as the silent screen star in “The Artist” is superior to George Clooney’s in “The Descendants.”

Would I rush to the theaters to see another silent movie? Probably not.

I am delighted that I went to this one.

I have a better sense of why my father loved these movies.

And I wish all theater audiences were as silent.