Film Review: The Artist

As I write this, I'm struggling to think of an introduction for a film that essentially needs little or no introduction at all. You've seen the trailers and you know that it's already scooped up awards left, right and center. But does it live up to the hype?

The film takes place two years prior to the Wall Street crash in 1929, when silent films were the standard in the industry. The numero uno actor at the time is George Valentin (played by Jean Dujardin who, to me, looks like a slightly more attractive version of Justin Theroux). Audiences adore him, his contemporaries not so much. By accident George meets Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), an aspiring actress and accomplished dancer.

George realises the silent plus black and white treatment doesn't work quite as well on other films such as Transformers 3: Dark of The Moon

One day the film studio head, Al Zimmer (John Goodman) shows a clip to George. It features George's previous co-star talking. Whilst all the other film executives are in awe, George baulks at the clip stating it's a joke and will never take off. Soon after, Al scraps the film that George was working on by telling him that from now on he's only making "talkies".

The rest of the film follows George's demise as he invests wholeheartedly into his own silent film whilst Peppy's star is on the rise. In the remainder of the film, the relationship of the characters is really put to the test as their lives put them on very separate paths.

A friend who accompanied me to see this film was very hesitant to do so, believing the whole principle of the film to be quite pretentious. I was rather apathetic to this film. Both of us worried that we would end up falling asleep to a film that had no dialogue whatsoever. In the end we were glad to have been persuaded to see such a film - it's been a long while since either of us had been so engaged by a film.

The films that I've see lately haven't really pushed my buttons. Too often I've prayed for a film to end, casually stealing a glance at my watch or almost cried at overly convoluted and nonsensical plots & scripts (yes I'm looking at you, Immortals)! With The Artist, Dujardin's eyes and Beso's smile say it all. There's no sappy or cheesy one-liners. The expressions of the cast convey and articulate far more than any vocabulary from all the languages in the world ever could.

The chemistry between Dujardin and Beso is exquisite. You can't help but yearn for these two characters to be together. And when they weren't on screen together, I couldn't help but feel a little bit heartbroken every time.

The music is a beautiful backdrop to the film. It helps carry, without overwhelming the viewer, the plot and sets the tone perfectly. In one dream-like sequence, the use of sound takes centrefold by highlighting the effect that sound and noise, made by even the most inanimate objects, has in our lives.

This film is obviously an homage by director Michel Hazanavicius to an older era of the film industry, particularly that of Hollywood's. I'm not that familiar with it, I must admit, but it makes me develop an appreciation for that era. At one point I was reminded of Singin' in the Rain (which despite the fact it's in colour, bears some similarity to The Artist) where Gene Kelly's presence and charisma shines through, much like Dujardin's. In fact, since watching this film, I've been wondering where the hell Dujardin has been my whole life?!

The Artist is my second favourite French film - sitting very tightly behind numéro un, La Haine. Coincidently both are modern films produced in black and white. Trust the French to make simplicity look so darn chic!