The Artist- Movie Review

Written and Directed by Michel Hazanavicius.
Running Time: 100 minutes (1h, 40 mins.)
Rated PG-13 (for a disturbing image and a crude gesture).
Distributor: The Weinstein Company

This is the first review for this blog in 2012. I skipped all of January's releases, even Steven Soderbergh's latest. I'll catch up on that one soon, but for now since it's Oscar season and the nominees have already been announced, it's a good opportunity to catch on films I may have missed. This is just one of them. I've been meaning to see it for a while since its release, but with a flurry of other films, I just never got the chance. That is, until just a day ago.

I just want to make it clear that this is a black-and-white silent film, the way Hollywood used make their movies. No 3D, no talking. Just music, movement and gestures. The movie follows George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a silent film star. His career has never been bigger. During a premiere of his latest film, he meets Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), just another film extra. As the movie goes on, his career is slowing down, due to the emergence of the talkies. As George's career is crumbling, Peppy has gone on to become a major star, starring in many non-silent films.

You would think that a 16-year old would get looks from older people for going into a silent film. Not bad looks, just puzzled looks, but that wasn't the case. I think the only time I got a puzzled look was from the cash register employee. The employee even reminded me (and my 11-year-old sister) that this was a black-and-white silent film. I kinda guessed that one coming. But I'm a film buff and I'm willing to watch films that actually take a risk, especially in this day and age. I can honestly say that I love this film. It's truly amazing how the simple, complicated and even heartbreaking things can be said, without actually saying a word. I felt like I was watching a classic silent film. So much in fact, that at times, I even forgot that this was made last year.

The performances (as silent as they are) are incredible. Jean Dujardin is engaging as the lead and Berenice Bejo is right up there with him. They also have great chemistry together, which is something I noticed a few years back when they starred together in OSS 117, a French James Bond parody, which was also directed by Michel Hazanavicius. John Goodman, James Cromwell, and Penelope Ann Miller fill the supporting roles and they're all great as well. Goodman plays a commanding producer, Cromwell is Valentin's trusty butler, and Miller is Valentin's wife. Malcolm McDowell has a part in here and if you watch How I Met Your Mother or to an animated extent, SpongeBob Squarepants, you'll notice Bill Fagerbakke in a very small role as a police officer. 

The film is written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, who I mentioned before is the director of OSS 117 and its sequel, OSS 117: Lost in Rio, both starring Dujardin (Bejo, Hazanavicius' wife, was only in the first). In this day and age, a director bringing up the idea of making a silent film is risky, because let's face it, a general audience isn't gonna line up to see a silent film in theatres. Much of my generation won't see one either. But hopefully that changes soon. I'm not saying we should have a lot of them, just at least one a year or two. Ludovic Bource's musical score is phenomenal. It hits all the right notes from the jaunty and happy to the sad and emotional. Gorgeous cinematography is provided by Guillaume Schiffman. Here's a fun fact: though the film is shown in black-and-white, it was shot in color.

People were already talking about this film since its world premiere at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. That talk continued to grow after its TIFF premiere and grow even further when it was released in November. Thankfully, I'm now part of the conversation. I went through this entire review without mentioning its 10 Oscar nominations. It's a frontrunner for the Best Picture category and I could definitely see why. This is a film that uses a technique Hollywood has mostly abadoned due to what the mainstream audience is hoping for and even wanting for. The Artist proves that it is important we never forget the way films were made. This is a film many people will remember for a very long time. I won't even repeat myself, so from everything I wrote about this outstanding film, I give it **** (4 stars).