Great homage to the silent era, gripping narrative and fantastic use of sound, when it is used

Rating: 9/10 (29 January 2012)

The Artist (Dir. Michel Hazanavicius, 2011) focuses on the career of a silent film star and his transition into the classical Hollywood era where "talkies" dominate. His career is contended by the incredible performances of a new star, Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo). The film progresses, following her rise and his demise.
The Artist is colourless and silent which can be off-putting for the generic film going audience who would prefer to watch another Transformer film. The story is an interesting one and pays great homage to the films of the silent era. Through the lack of sound I became more engaged with the plot and characters of The Artist as there were no conversations or sound effects to distract ones eye or ear from the films narrative. When watching it, comparisons between The Artist and Singin' in the Rain (Dir. Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1952) cannot be overlooked. They both contain very similar narratives, where one actor is forced out by "talkies" while another succeeds.
Unlike silent movies from the early 20th century, this film does incorporate scenes of sound within in the film. Counting it up after watching the film I believe there are in-fact only two scenes in the whole hour and a half that use diegetic sound. One scene occurs early in the film where George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), the film's protagonist, suffers a nightmare on how he won't cope with the transition to sound. This scene is superbly produced. All the objects Valentin contacts with, in the dream, make sounds as he interacts with them, but he himself cannot speak. This scene is hauntingly spectacular as the footage that precedes and follows this scene is silent and accompanied but a music hall soundtrack. This nightmare scene, however, has no soundtrack and only the diegetic sound of the objects Valentin touches.
The camera work and editing techniques are similar to that of film- making in the 1920s. Modern techniques are, however, used within The Artist as well. At multiple points newspaper headlines are layered onto the film so as to provide more of a narrative. These techniques were used in early cinema, but not to the extent or effect that they are in The Artist. As I mentioned before, this film pays a great homage to the classics created by the first film-makers.
Another noteworthy aspect of this film is the acting. For a French film there is a large number of popular American faces. This will be due to the film being set in the United States. Actors John Goodman and James Cromwell play producer Al Zimmer and Valentin's butler. These actors are fantastic, along with the previous mentioned Dujardin and Bejo, and create an unforgettable film. Another actor that needs recognition is Valentin's dog. It is one of the most important characters in the film and also provides great comic relief; the inter-titles near the end of the film states that Valentin "owes his life to that dog", referring to a house fire. But subtly I think the inter-titles are implying that the dog helped make Valentin's career.
The idea of silent films is often off-putting for a generic film audience, as mentioned. But this film should seriously be considered for anyone who enjoys a good film. I also heavily recommend viewing it at the pictures as cinema is the medium films like this are intended for.
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