The Artist

Rating: 10/10 (5 March 2012)

The Artist takes place in Hollywood in the late 1920's and focuses on a famous silent movie star named George Valentin. He has made quite a name for himself starring in some very profitable films over the years, but his career could be put on hold, or end permanently with sound and talking movies coming into play. The film also focuses on a young dancer named Peppy Miller, who gets her big break working on the talkie films, but early in her career she did work with George, and has always cared much for him and now will also do what she can to save his career. Because, The Artist is about a silent movie film star and takes place in the late 1920's the film that we are watching is actually a silent film. Most of the characters say what they have to say through expressive facial gestures and when there is an important moment of dialogue it is printed against a black screen in between shots of the characters. I have read online and even with people I am acquainted with, I keep hearing that people do not want to see this film for the simple reason that there is no talking in it. Never mind the fact of all the awards it has won and all the other great reviews and acclaim it has gotten. People can not seem to get over the fact that there is no talking. This did not bother me one bit, but having seen many wonderful silent films from the 1920's, or even earlier, this did not bother me because it does not impact, or take away from the story, it is basically just a different way of presenting it. I think if those skeptics were to see The Artist, their opinion would change quite quickly because this is such a delightful film that I would really find it hard for people not to like it. The film is very entertaining and captivating and the performances by the entire cast are all very good here. Yes, there is no talking, but they convey what they have to say and their feelings that come out of each scene with great posture and body language that once you get used to it, you do not miss the talking at all. The black and white cinematography looks great here as well as the costumes and sets of the era it takes place in. I also quite appreciated the story behind the movie and dealing with silent films drastically coming to a halt when sound is finally available and major studios jump at the chance to make talkie films in order to cash in on what they figure will be a huge success and the way of the future. Watching a film like The Artist, in 2012 we all know that the talkie films did become a huge success and that is how we watch films, or have watched them from that point on throughout the decades. It doesn't focus on this, but later on you have to wonder about what will happen to the characters when Technicolor comes in and films are no longer in black and white. I don't think that is quite as big an issue to people as sound because we still occasionally today have films made in black and white that try to capture a style and time period of long ago. I also wonder if maybe in his own way director, Michel Hazanavicius is also commenting on the current state of film in general these days. With the closure of some major video store chains it is now getting very hard to rent films and everything seems to be going over to digital. If we want to see a film we now have a hard time just going out and renting one, when the now preferred format is downloading off the internet and using streaming services to do so. I think eventually the few remaining stores and chains that even sell videos, DVDs and Blu-Rays will also unfortunately die out and again everything will be made digital. It will be a great convenience to many, but also to many a great inconvenience. People still seem to enjoy actually getting out and watching films at a movie theatre, but who is to say that that will last forever and if it one day soon may be available for people to watch on their own home systems as well. For us with any major hobbies such as film, or even music, the future of this media can be scary. The Artist tells a story with so much feeling and drama, but at the same time with a lot of humour and romance that it is a joy to behold. I absolutely loved this film from it's wonderful and feel good story to the great acting, directing and writing. I did not find that what they tried to do here with making it a silent film was gimmicky, or done to sell more tickets, or be self indulgent. I found it a very ingenious way of capturing the movies of old and bringing a part of them back to life for us. The film is entertaining, charming and great to look at and with great performances. Last year really seemed to pay a lot of tribute to classic cinema with Hugo and now The Artist, and I hope more people will give films like The Artist a chance and older silent films in general. This film was the little film that could. It came out of nowhere and won the attention and acclaim of critics and awards circles and also won my heart over as well. I absolutely loved every minute of The Artist. A classic in the making and one of the best films of 2011.