Cinema in its most chemically pure state

Rating: 9/10 (10 February 2012)

Hitchcock used to say that the silent movies were the most perfect state of the cinematographic art. And, of course, this is an undeniable truth.
In 2011, a French director, obviously a movie buff, sketches out this profound, touching, brilliant recreation of a time, a set of techniques and a filmmaking community long ago gone.
The Artist is an exercise of style; despite the fact that some of the shooting techniques from the silent era cannot be reproduced now (for technical or commercial reasons), director Michel Hazanavicius shows to our unaccustomed eyes the life and the work of the men and women who made movies even before the modern film language was invented (by Hitchcock himself).
The traumatic and difficult transition between the silent and the talkies is portrayed here from the point of view of a great silent actor, who is dubious about his ability to talk on camera and keep being believable. This membrane shakes the entire industry, and even the companies have to decide whether to keep making silents or retrain their entire productive process into the sound. There is a beautiful love store embedded in, and a superb directorial work, mixing ancient and modern techniques to configure a shining piece of visual narrative, a real time travel to the past and a heart touching tribute to those pioneers. The only obvious anachronism is the modern make up (I'd rather like the kind they used to wear back then, so full of contrast and flamboyant to the naked eye, but not for those lowly sensitive film emulsions), but, letting this aside, the entire movie becomes a highly developed piece of art, fluid and flawless.
Great acting of the entire cast (that Argentinian beauty Bérénice Bejo will left you breathless many times), with all the craftsmanship of John Goodman and James Cromwell... But watch out particularly for Uggy the Jack Russell Terrier, because the little guy is perfectly capable of stealing your heart. As a matter of fact, the dog is just another main character in this film. He cannot talk, but the humans don't, either.
Also, watch out for the last ten minutes of the music score: the trained ears of classic moviegoers will found a revered master there (two of them, in fact). And lots and lots of cinephile winks and tiny tributes for the eyes capable of spotting them.
All in all, a movie about the movies, the filmmakers and the actors, and a great artistic work almost perfect in itself.
Worth watching? Of course yes... twice.