A glorious tribute to the era of silent movies, 'The Artist' pairs a classic love story with brilliant filmmaking technique and is simply one of the best movies this year!

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2011)

There was a time when going to the movies was a guaranteed feel-good experience, where you laughed, cried (sometimes because you laughed too hard) and swooned at the characters and their guffaws. Such was the experience when silent movies in the 1920s were still the rage, and 'The Artist', a black—and-white silent film, is a glorious throwback to the wonder of that age when the medium had just started working its magic into the hearts of people around the world.
George Valentin (played by French actor Jean Dujardin) is a film idol of that era, and when we first meet Valentin, the year is 1927 and he is on top of the world. Valentin is also a showoff, not in the arrogant sort of way many of our celebrities are today but rather someone basking in the public's love and attention lavished on him. It is at the height of his popularity that he meets an aspiring young starlet Peppy Miller (Bejo), who breaks the line of fans outside the cinema and accidentally bumps into him. His false affront quickly melting into a golden smile, which she reciprocates with an equally radiant beam, finds its way to the front page of the next day's Variety newspaper with the headline 'Who's That Girl?'.
Turns out she's also auditioning as an extra for his next movie, 'A German Affair', and an irresistibly charming on-set encounter where he imitates her dancing moves behind an opaque white screen blossoms into an immediate attraction between Valentin and Miller. He also practically hand-twists his boss Zimmer into giving her a bigger role in the movie, and soon the duo are seen shooting a scene in multiple takes while cracking each other up.
By this time, we guarantee you that you would already be won over by their romance, charming and delightful even without the utterance of a single word. Sure, there are the occasional inter-titles to punctuate the music on the soundtrack, but by and large, director Michel Hazanavicius simply trusts in his actors' movements and expressions to convey their characters' feelings for each other. Till this point, the mood is light, buoyant and upbeat, but Hazanavicius isn't content just with a fluffy silent-movie tribute.
You've probably heard of the story of the silent film actor, who unable to make the transition to talkies (or movies with dialogue) falls into a sad state of booze and drugs and eventually to obscurity- and so it is with Valentin. "I'm the one people come to see. They never needed to hear me," he says, taking out his own movie to write and direct a big- budget silent picture that unfortunately few come to see. Meanwhile, Peppy's celebrity marquee soars, with Zimmer embracing her as the studio's future-, and her new picture, which opens alongside Valentin's, easily trouncing the latter.
It's a sad tale, but one that is no less relevant then as it is now. To stay in favour means to pander if necessary to the demands of your audience, and the lesson Valentin learns in the film is also an admonishment to the fickleness of us the viewers. Besides his Jack Russell terrier, Valentin finds that only two people have stuck by him- one, his loyal butler Clifton (James Cromwell); and the other, Peppy. Yes, there's a lot more heart to Peppy than what meets the eye, so don't be too quick to rebuke her and what she represents for causing Valentin's fall from grace. The age-old adage goes that pride comes before the fall, and indeed it is ultimately Valentin's pride that causes him to resist the goodwill of his few remaining friends and descend even further into self-destruction. The ending here however is solidly Hollywood old-school, as befitting of the movies of that era 'The Artist' tries to emulate as well as a perfect panacea for these gloomy depressing times of late.
Hazanavicius' film is as much about the story it wants to tell as its method, and it excels as much in the former as it does in the latter. So much is conveyed using so little, amazing it is to realise how much can be told just through moving pictures. There are also brilliant analogies here- in particular, one where Valentin is standing at the back of an almost empty cinema trying to gauge the reception to his latest movie, while the screen shows his character sliding slowly into quicksand stretching his hand out for help. The technique here is as rich as the emotions on screen, and establishes Hazanavicius as a bona fide filmmaking talent.
Of course, Hazanavicius has some generous help from his lead actor, Jean Dujardin, who gives one of the best performances of the year. He portrays with subtlety, grace and nuance the transformation of his character's fate from adulation to apathy, an even greater achievement especially when you consider his comedic flair in the film's first half- hour. This flair is well-matched by his co-star Bejo, sassy with a positively infectious vibe at first and then surprisingly affecting later on.
In 'The Artist', Hazanavicius has created a film to be loved by both cinephiles and casual audiences alike. Those with both love and knowledge for the medium will certainly appreciate his many references; while those with less of the latter will still be taken by his panache for telling as much, and perhaps even more, of a story than many of today's films without sound. At its heart is a touching love story, one drawn out of the ilk of the enduring love classics of old and infused with modern-day wit and zest. Mark our words- 'The Artist' could very well be next year's Best Picture, so don't let this work of cinematic art slip you by.

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