A Masterpiece of Silent Monologue.

Rating: 9/10 (16 March 2012)

A Masterpiece of Silent Monologue.
The Artist is an excellent film, especially a silent film in 2011 which is directed by French director Michel Hazanavicius, and this film brings us back to the early 1920's silent era of motion picture making in Hollywood, which tells the story of a former silent film star who got trapped in silent films when a new fashion of talkies arise and take over the silent films. It is one of the notable improvement occurred in the film making with the synchronized dialogue and songs. The Artist resembles painting, music and literature in a celluloid format and holds the attention of an audience for 1 hour 40 minutes without flagging.
The story is set in the early 1927, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) was a famous silent movie star and he was a dedicated actor who apparently meets a young woman named Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) an ambitious actress from the town who dreams of becomes a famous actress. When the talking picture is being introduced into the film industry, most of the director and producers were ready to invest in making talkies. Al Zimmer (John Goodman) the noted producer who offers George Valentin for a lead role in his upcoming talkie film, but George denied. However on the contrary Peppy Miller getting a chance for some small roles as a background artist in the films, later she becomes a remarkable star in talkies. Simultaneously George Valentin was broke and become weaker day by day and his fame starts fading away. The remaining story discloses how George Valentin wins back his fame and the conflicts between George Valentin and Peppy Miller. Further the movie reveals other conflicts such as, Pride vs. Fame, Film Stars vs. Studio, Silent vs. Talkies, Fame vs. Money, Fame vs. Society, Love vs. Loss, Personal life vs. Career life, etc.
A Journey of Pride "With Pleasure"
The Artist is a journey of one's own pride and dignity. The pivotal role George Valentin played by Jean Dujardin who was portrayed as a 1920's movie star with a thin mustache, with his partner and actor Jack Russell terrier dog named Uggie. Jean Dujardin great performance is given a solid support to the script. He won Best Actor in 2011 Cannes Film Festival and 2012 Academy Awards, etc. However at the same time Bérénice Bejo appears as an innocent, fun-loving young woman who is an aspiring actress & dancer with interest and her performance is unforgettable. Doris (Penelope Ann Miller) who was portrayed as an unhappy wife of George Valentin. From the beginning this script leaving the viewer wondering, why George Valentin doesn't want to commit on talkies rather than silent films and finally at the end its putting forward the reason for his denial. The core subject of the film was dealing with ones's individual pride and plays around the star image and the fame which is something illusion, and it appears as well as it can fade. The Screenplay and film narrative is delightfully fun with tragedy and also aesthetically done. Particularly the comic depiction of characterization made the film quite more interesting. This film reminds us the 1952 film 'Singin' in the Rain' and also the characters such as Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds).
Director Michel Hazanavicius expertly conveys the life of an actor who lived in the silent film era and this film proved extremely popular and received 10 nominations for the 84th Academy Award and won 5 out of 10 including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Actor and Best Costume. The Artist was filmed in colour and converted into the black/white and also presented in 4:3 aspect ratio which is commonly used format in the silent era in order to recreate the look and feel of 1920's silent film. The absence of the dialogue concentrates the viewer's attention more closely on the visuals and gestures thus the whole film crew who had done a great job, especially in the lighting and camera works, the very ordinary shots are often so impressive. The crew team who has rendered the peculiar possibilities of lighting and cinematographic techniques and to apply them towards the creation of artistic production in order to achieve an artistic result.
Result: The Artist is a romantic comedy melodrama with pride, fame, mute, success, romance, love, loss, desire, emotional conflicts, tragedy, fun, entertainment, brilliant performance and it's worth watching on the screen.
The Artist : An artist's stroke on celluloid.
Related Movies: Singin' in the Rain 1952, A Star is Born 1937 & 1954, Thin Man 1934, etc.
Sunday, March 4, 2012