Genre: Comedy/Drama/Silent
4 cookies
Glass of milk - Michael Hazanavicus
Glass of milk - Jean Dujardin
Glass of milk - Berenice Bejo
Glass of milk - James Cromwell
Thank the movie
Gods for The Artist! Or more
specifically, thank writer/director Michel Hazanavicus (which is just as hard
to say as it is to spell). Just when I thought there were no more original
ideas left in the movie world, The Artist
comes along and has completely restored my faith in cinema and reminded me why
I love movies so much in the first place. It’s one of my favorite movies of the
year so far, had me smiling from ear to ear (except when I was crying) for its
entire 100 minute duration, and it is all black and white and silent.
What?!?! Did you just say it’s a black and
white, silent film?
Why, yes I did. Somehow,
in this crazy modern movie world of 3-D and motion capture technology and Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 making
$139.5 million on opening weekend, Hazanavicus has crafted a silent, black and
white film made to look like it’s from the late 1920s. Please! Please! Please!
Do not let the fact that this movie is silent and in black and white deter you from
going. The Artist is absolutely
brilliant and entertaining as hell.
The story opens in
1927 at the opening night of a big silent film production starring George Valentine (Jean Dujardin),
one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Immediately we are transported to a different
time, a different world, as we watch an audience watch a silent film and
completely love it. On the red carpet, after the premiere, Valentine is posing
for pictures when a beautiful, young woman accidentally falls into his arms.
The paparazzi go crazy and the next morning every newspaper has a picture of
Valentine and the young women holding each other on the front page. The woman’s
name is Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) and she uses her newly gained fame to
get a small part in Valentine’s next movie. Her roles get bigger and bigger and
eventually she becomes a major movie star herself as silent films are replaced
by “talkies.” Meanwhile, Valentine fades into oblivion as silent films become
irrelevant and Valentine completely loses his luster as a movie star.
And it’s all done
completely visually. When dialogue is necessary, a title card flashes on screen
with words and Hazanavicus does break the “no sound rule” on two occasions
(very cleverly), but other than that, the story unfolds in the characters eyes
and actions. This is an unabashed love letter to the magic of movies and it is
clearly made by people who love cinema more than anything else in the world.
This is a must see film for anyone who claims to be a movie fan.
The casting in The Artist is perfect and the acting is
even better. Dujardin is remarkable, conveying such a wide array of emotions
without saying a single word; he won Best Actor at Cannes and is a lock for an
Oscar nomination. Bejo, who is married to Hazanavicus, could not have been
better as Peppy Miller and John Goodman and James Cromwell also give incredible
performances as a studio executive and Valentine’s loyal butler, Clifton,
respectively. Hell, even Valentine’s lovable dog deserves a standing ovation as
it/he gives the best animal performance of the year and turns out to be a major
hero of the movie.
The gimmick of
shooting a silent film in black and white never feels gimmicky and Hazanavicus
pulls off the antiquated style with ease, even shooting the film in the boxy
aspect ratio from before wide-screen. It’ll be a hard sell, and the fact that
this movie even got made is almost a miracle in itself, but I’d be hard pressed
to find anyone who walks out of this movie without a huge smile on his/her face
recommending it to friends. We needed this movie – not only to remind us of
cinema’s glorious past, but to give us hope for the future as well.
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