The Artist (2011)
Certified: PG
Duration: 100 minutes
Directed by: Michael Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell, Bitsie Tulloch, Beth Grant
KRS release
Like the recent Hugo, the multi-award-winning The Artist yearns for a time when things were simpler, when movie-aking was still in its infancy. It takes us back to the time when Hollywood was about to make the leap from silent to sound films; to the time when the word “talkies” was introduced.
Sound was initially seen as a fad but it was there to stay. It also spelt the end of many a career as the voices of some of the main actors of the time failed to appeal to the audience for some reason or other.
Set in 1927, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a star of Hollywood’s silent era. He is married to actress Doris (Penelope Ann Miller) who never really seems happy with her husband nor his dog, who is his co-star in many pictures. Film extra Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) plays George’s love interest, to whom he gives a more prominent role in his films.
George’s boss, Al Zimmer (John Goodman), wants to make the shift from silent to sound movies, which are rumoured to soon take over Hollywood. He is, however, reluctant, yet the reason for this will only be revealed towards the end of the film.
The Artist takes spectators on a trip during which Peppy’s career rockets while that of George deteriorates, as does his personal life.
The film looks good, its presentation is impeccable and the picture is both crisp and clear. The film is made in the same style of the1920s yet with the hindsight, the knowledge and modern technology of over a century of film-making.
As such this is a romantic comedy; a cautionary tale or a drama which is an oddity in the way it innocently handles its subject.
The film’s pacing moves along to the incredible soundtrack by Ludovic Bource who has chosen to include extracts from Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo score. In a film where the cast is silent throughout, music is an ever-important tool. Mr Dujardin’s acting seems to be a combination of John Gilbert and Douglas Fairbanks. In its own way The Artist is a universal film which can be understood by anyone and only towards the end does language play its part.
When sound was introduced, cinema lost its universality which ignited the whole foreign vs English language films debate, which persists to this very day.
This movie is successful because its film-makers did not only manage to achieve the look but also the spirit of the era, giving spectators a taste of the long-gone Hollywood, a time when stars were really stars.