I understand that some people asked for a refund in the cinema. That is quite reasonable.
*edit*
I feel some kind of explanation is required.
For me, silent movies have inevitably been a frustrating experience, and it's likely I'm not at all alone. The 'classic' silent films that were shown on TV (what cinema would screen them?) were inevitable painful experiences for me: Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplain's various films, The Keystone Cops and various other nameless films that motivated me to get off my butt and go somewhere else.
I'm sure at the time that the novelty of moving pictures was absolutely wonderful for many, even when they repeated cliche after visual cliche to get the message across. But just like the early curtain call scene in The Artist, every gag, every point would be hammered home, emphasised, repeated and dragged out to the point of unbearability. Laurel & Hardy would always have a grandfather clock scene, where they get stuck going back & forth in the road for a couple of minutes before the inevitable car comes along to run over the clock.
The other raw nerve it really presses is that of communication between people.
I know that films ALWAYS contrive situations, forcing their victims into inevitable positions to produce the planned outcome, and it's sometimes bearable, sometimes not. But the emphasis on a lack of communication in this film made that experience almost painful, whether it's a refusal to communicate with an increasingly unhappy wife or the repeated requirement that the artist himself may not actually produce any audible speech. Just deeply frustrating.
Now on one level I can appreciate the mastery that went into creating this film, and the clever way it makes you feel you're both watching a film and participating in the story, the great camera work, careful continuity and even the little bits of humorous punning (like the 'bang' script in the suicide scene). But it makes me think this was a film produced for jaded watchers - those who have seen too many films and need something different, with a lot of highly recognisable references that enabled them to connect historically with it.
It's a clever film, and I'm glad we borrowed the DVD instead of paying for it!
p.s. It was nice to see David Niven's picture getting shown a lot. ;-)