Brilliant in its simplicity

Rating: 7/10 (18 June 2013)

This movie makes me realize that in recent years we've all been obsessed with what twists to add to our stories in order to break the classic story structure, and it does so by deliberately choosing not to. Mind, they let you know that it is at their fingertips to do so if they wish - with a talkie dream sequence, with the drunk scene at the bar, and with the brilliant scene where even his shadow deserts George - but they don't. What they do is to just tell the story WELL (I know, split infinitive). Brilliant in its simplicity, "The Artist" somehow lets you know that it is aware of the mold that lets it take shape, and yet somehow avoids giving the audience the dull feeling of seeing just another of thousands of movies of the same story structure. It is so simple and well done that I rate it just short of groundbreaking at a rare 9/10.