The ARTIST and the Golden Age of Tinseltown

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2012)

The Artist is a little gem of a silent film that was shot in black and white. This clever throwback to old Hollywood was the work of a French production team with American support and headed by director Michel Hazanavicius. Not since Mel Brooks had the clout and audacity to make his Silent Movie in 1976 had a silent film been shot on a grand scale. Brooks had the advantage of blockbuster name recognition from his previous films and enlisting A list stars to do his film in color no less. The Artist has no superstars, and instead the film relies on telling a compassionate story that is surprisingly accessible to modern audiences.
In 1927 Hollywood, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a matinée idol whose films are popular with the masses. At one Hollywood premier, he shows off his loyal dog (Uggie), and at the red carpet, he bumps into a fan, Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), who has dreams of making it in movies. George's home life is not so happy as his eccentric wife (Penelope Ann Miller) disapproves of his carefree antics. Meanwhile, Peppy auditions for and wins a bit part in a chorus line and by chance meets Valentin again who hires her for his film despite the grumblings of the studio boss (a wonderful John Goodman). During a dance club scene, the two have instant chemistry and a romance is blossoming even as Valentin has doubts and feeling guilty as a married man. When the studio begins to embrace the sound era, he refuses to change with the times and finds sinking box office grosses and waning popularity while Peppy is a fast rising star. When the stock market crashes, Valentin is ruined financially and, his career in a heap, all hope is seemingly lost until a shining beacon comes to his aid with a novel plan.
This is a silent film that caught everyone by surprise with its deceptively simple plot of romance, drama, comedy, and pathos. If that sounds like a Charlie Chaplin film, the kind of film they don't make anymore, it's because they haven't for over eighty years! People who respond to this film owe it to themselves to rediscover the classic silent films like Chaplin's City Lights and The General by Buster Keaton. The Artist is an ideal introduction to these and other masterworks.
The film borrows liberally from past cinema, and its main plot is right out of A Star Is Born. When Valentin is seated at the dinner table with his judgmental wife, it begs comparisons to the famous transitions at the dinner table in Citizen Kane. The scenes where the studio is switching to sound pictures is reminiscent of the same dilemma in Singin in the Rain. The dog, who steals the film, is terrific as comic relief and figures in a scene where he attempts to rescue his master from a burning building-Rin Tin Tin anyone?
Although the musical score by Ludovic Bource is quite good particularly in the playful main theme,it uses several minutes of a love theme from Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo for a climactic sequence. It works just fine, but purists who recognize Bernard Herrmann's haunting score may find it a tad annoying. There are also a couple brief instances when actual sound is employed to great effect.
There are memorable moments including a loyal chauffeur (James Cromwell) who refuses to leave Valentin during his decline. There is a sentimental scene where Valentin has sold all his belongings and stands wistfully at a pawn shop, his refection superimposed with a tuxedo on display. And this may be one of the only times you see someone flip the bird in a silent film!
Sure, some of the scenes are filled with old fashioned movie clichés, but what is noticeable throughout the film is an energy and enthusiasm that becomes infectious even after the novelty of watching a soundless film wears off. And consider this-an engaging silent film with no nudity or violence that is riding a wave of sentiment and love all the way to the Oscars.