VOA标准英语2012--'The Artist's Silent Power Leads Oscar Pack

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By now, many moviegoers have seen Alexander Payne’s bittersweet drama "The Descendants."

It's about a busy lawyer who finds himself as the single parent of his two daughters as his wife lies in a coma¹ after a boating accident.

The film has been nominated for an Oscar for best picture.

Payne is known for finding humor in tragic² moments and, once again, he delivers. 

The film editing is superb and the dialogue heartfelt and intelligent.

But the movie lacks grandeur³ and that could cost it the Oscar.

Martin Scorcese’s "Hugo" offers a dreamlike vision of 19th century Paris. 

It's a complex story about an orphan⁴ who lives hidden inside a Parisian train station and keeps its clocks ticking. 

If he's found out, Hugo could end up in an orphanage⁵. This underlying⁶ threat gives the film the feeling of a Dickens novel. 

The film leads the Oscar race with 11 nominations⁷ - including art direction, cinematography, and film editing.

But "Hugo" has not received nominations for acting⁸ and, despite its elegance⁹ and lovely visuals, it lacks emotional energy.

"The Help" overflows¹⁰ with emotion. It's about African-American maids who risk their lives to tell their stories of toiling¹¹ in white households in the 1960s American South.

Viola Davis, who plays the maid Aibileen Clark, is nominated for best actress.

The film received top honors from the Screen Actors Guild¹².

Although three of its four nominations are for acting, the movie’s powerful characters and epic¹³ dimension make it impossible to overlook. 

With its stunning¹⁴ visuals and sparse¹⁵ narrative¹⁶, Terrence Malick’s poetic¹⁷ drama, "The Tree of Life," towers above the other nominees¹⁸.

It's a metaphysical drama about the loss of innocence¹⁹, divinity, human nature, and mortality.

Many have hailed "Tree of Life" as a masterpiece. But it's long - three hours - and some have called it indulgent.

What "The Tree of Life" does not have is mass appeal.

The film doesn't offer a conventional ending, which could undermine its popularity with the academy.

Instead, the voters could pick something lighter²⁰ and poignant²¹. 

Like "The Artist" by Michel Hazanavicius.

Although it trails "Hugo" with 10 nominations, the film’s emotion outdoes "Hugo" and its musical score is astounding²².

Hazanavicius and his stellar cast have produced a brilliant rendition of silent films of 1920s and 1930s Hollywood. 

The story about a movie star, who loses his sheen with the advent²³ of the talkies, is a tale of success, failure and redemption. 

And the winner is…us! 

Because all of these films are gems²⁴ and our lives have been enriched by each one of them.

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