Never mind the Oscars

Hole up with such beautiful films as Les Enfants du Paradis instead - just the antidote to the brash spectacle at the Kodak theatre.

The Oscars, don't you just love 'em. No? Me neither. Too much noise, for starters. And although I no longer think all the best movies are silent, there's still a strong case to be made for actors keeping silent when off the set. Why, when someone's talent lies in pretending to be someone else, should they be thought interesting in themselves? But with the Academy Awards it's actors all the way: laughing, crying, air-kissing and, worst of all, talking.

Lucky, then, that those wishing to escape from the Oscar monopoly on screens of all sizes this weekend can hole up in London's National Gallery and catch, among the many non-moving images, one motion picture, one that moves to the exquisite design of no less a director than Marcel Carné.

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