The Artist audience members in Liverpool demand refund, unaware of film's silence

The Artist may have been well-received by American audiences (and the Hollywood Foreign Press, who selected Michel Hazanavicius' film as the Best Motion Picture in the Musical or Comedy category), but cinema-goers in Liverpool were less than pleased upon realizing that the much-touted film is silent. So less-than-pleased, in fact, that a handful of audience members demanded refunds from Odeon Cinemas, the exhibitor of the movie.

Per Odeon Cinemas' refund policy, audience members are required to complain and ask for a refund before ten minutes of a film has passed. A representative for Odeon Cinemas confirmed that “it [Odeon] has issued a small number of refunds to guests who were unaware that The Artist was a silent film.”

So what does it say that certain parties in Northern England are blissfully unaware of The Artist's silent narrative? You'd think that after all the attention The Artist has received during this awards season, the whole "silent movie" thing would have been adequately publicized. But it goes to show that anything can be misinterpreted: stateside, we witnessed a lawsuit over Drive's alleged mismarketing and the way Tree of Life polarized audiences with its ambitious scope and meandering, arthouse narrative.

For your review, here's the trailer for The Artist, no part of which indicates that there might be any dialogue.