A celebration of the silent era

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2013)

It's 1927. Arguably Hollywood's most admired movie screen idol, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), is enjoying the success of his latest picture, The Russian Affair. He enjoys his work and the adulation he receives by being a movie star, as witnessed by how he hogs the spotlight during The Russian Affair's post-premiere bows. Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) is an aspiring young actress, who literally and figuratively runs into Valentin at the premiere, which ends up being the launching pad to her Hollywood acting career through bit parts. The advent of talking pictures brings a reversal to their fortunes as Kinograph, the movie studio where Valentin is under contract, is looking for fresh faces such as Peppy Miller to star in their talking pictures, while Valentin resists the entire notion of talking pictures. Peppy, who appreciates everything that Valentin did for her career, tries to help him as much as she can, but Valentin may have to decide on his own where and if he fits into the Hollywood machine, one where he doesn't think people want to hear him speak.
A celebration of the silent era and I can surely see why it won the Oscar. This represents everything that Hollywood loves and has nostalgia for. Jean Dujardin brought his character's joy, pain, pride and the love for another woman who wasn't his wife to perfection on screen. Surprisingly, Berenice Bejo's Peppy was a heart stealer and is one of the best performances of the year by any actress. All the supporting actors like John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller (though her character was painfully one-dimensional) and others are fantastic. The music, the costumes, the sets, the execution were all great. I especially loved the metaphor when George taps his bottle onto the table and he hears sound and he can feel his career vanishing away from him. That was simply marvellous to behold and I was so in awe of that scene. The whole movie is well put together, but my only gripe is that it isn't daring. The movie doesn't do anything that hasn't already been done before and the ending is far too sweet and saccharine and very wishful for the tale its telling and that it has no worthwhile commentary to offer for what happened to many of the stars from the silent era who didn't have such a happy ending to their own tales. But, the movie is unoffensive and I do think The Artist deserved the honours bestowed upon it since its so infectious and charming.
7.5/10