The 84th Academy Awards was full of memories and nostalgia of early cinema and classic Hollywood cinema. 〈The Artist〉 which describes a ruined silent movie star reaching the age of talkie won 5 oscars and 〈Hugo〉 which is about a forgotten movie maker, Georges Melies and a boy who wants to know the secret of an automaton that supposedly could write a message from his dead father won 5 oscars as well. Although these films are absolutely well made, if spectators who don’t have any knowledge of cinema history and classic movies watch above two movies, they might not understand the true value of them. Because those movies quote many other classic movies which have been beloved by cinephiles and moviemen through the history of cinema. And another movie in the 84th Academy Awards, 〈Midnight in Paris〉 directed by Woody Allen shows kind of a mosaic of various arts. All of those three movies can be tied up in the viewpoint of intertextuality.
Firstly, 〈The Artist〉 is based on the era of silent movie and quotations of 〈Singin’ in the Rain〉(1954) that shows also a movie star of the silent era who is facing a crisis of so called ‘the talkie era’ can be found. And there are similar scenes with 〈Citizen Kane〉(1941) which is one of the most influencial films among movie makers and critics in the world.
Secondly, 〈Hugo〉 shows many early films directly and indirectly within the narrative. For example, the railroad station in Paris, the background of 〈Hugo〉 is related with the very first film, 〈Arrival of a train at La Ciotat〉(1895) directed by Lumiere brothers and 〈The General〉(1926) directed by Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton. Audience might not realize the interrelationship of those films in the beginning of the movie, because 〈Hugo〉 shows them very metaphorically. However, after 〈Arrival of a train at La Ciotat〉 and 〈General〉 are quoted directly, most of the audience can find their similarity.
Thirdly, 〈Midnight in Paris〉 is consisted of many pieces of various arts such as music, paintings, literatures and movies. The main character of this movie is already a famous screen writer but he wants to be a novelist. One midnight, he time traveled to 20’s in Paris by chance and met there famous novelists like Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. And many artists and their works appear directly in the screen. If audience don’t have any knowledge of those artists, they might lose their interests in the movie.
In the conclusion, this research shows that it is very important for audience to have pre-knowledge so as to understand 〈The Artist〉, 〈Hugo〉, and 〈Midnight in Paris〉. This flow of movie world might cause minority group which is very intelligent and have high social position. That is a nature of intertextuality and it needs to be developed in an academic way.