The Artist: A heartfelt ode to silent cinema

Rating: 10/10 (17 April 2012)

"Less is more." No phrase can better describe this magnificent movie by French director Michel Hazanavicius. In the years, decades since movies gained their voice, what has been produced as a result? A lot of good films, as well as a lot of bad films. Definitely nothing perfect, but after so many years of seeing the same formula, one always looks back to simpler, happier times. The 1920s, otherwise known as The Roaring Twenties, when jazz, liquor, and the movies ruled the United States, was such a time. With filmmaking having transformed, no longer a form of artistic expression, but a scheme for making money, how, just how, can that artistic value be saved? The answer, according to Hazanavicius: take it right back to its roots, back to where it all began.
The Artist compresses the entire history of the transition of silent film to the age of "talkies" within the course of just under two hours. It's about a silent film star, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), who, in 1927, is a superstar, with his chiseled good looks, jolly attitude, acrobatic tricks, and his faithful, energetic dog (Uggie). While greeting his fans and the press after a premiere, Valentin meets a pretty young woman, whom, after trying to find her dropped purse, finds herself right in front of the famous film star. Ever the jovial spirit, Valentin poses for pictures with the girl, Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), which makes headlines the following day.
Peppy, an aspiring actress, is inspired by this encounter with her idol to audition for roles. Although initially turned down by the producer, Al Zimmer (John Goodman), she soon gets a role as an extra with Valentin's assistance. Valentin continues to be a big figure in Hollywood while Peppy is, at first, put in small roles. Then comes the introduction of sound...
...And to say more would be giving away too much.
In addition to having the technical aspects, The Artist has the soul and feel of a silent movie. It tells its story mainly through imagery, and just a few necessary cue cards. When we see how Valentin reacts when seeing the sound recording, his look plants worry, both in him and us. Likewise, when viewing a montage of posters, we see just how the fortunes of characters change.
The acting is nothing short of superb. Arguably, the face that will stay with you long after the movie's over is Jean Dujardin's, as George Valentin. He takes a leaf from the books of Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino, giving Valentin a confident hero's smile and merry personality, though unlike the above actors, Dujardin doesn't focus merely on the actor side of Valentin. He goes deep into the human side of Valentin, that concealed, vulnerable side which Fairbanks and Valentino never let the press take photos of. As we learn more about his personal life, Valentin, whom we greet at first with just simple admiration and consider a hero, gradually becomes a sympathetic, real human being, someone who warrants our compassion and our (no exaggeration here) love, and who we want to succeed in the end.
The other important actor in the film is Bérénice Bejo as Peppy Miller. The actress has that lively energy that goes hand in hand with Dujardin's, and their chemistry is flawless. Their characters are the other's anchors; they keep each other up in times of misfortune for either of them. Likewise, Peppy, who starts off as just a girl who wants to make it in the big time, becomes a person who, like Valentin, deserves our sympathy. She remains a sensible individual, and never loses herself in her dreams even as they become reality.
The supporting cast is comprised of many great actors, all of whom do a great job, even if only for a few minutes. Among such well-regarded actors include John Goodman as the stereotypical overweight, bureaucratic producer Al Zimmer, James Cromwell as Clifton, Valentin's loyal butler, and Penelope Ann Miller as Doris, Valentin's strict, emotionally distant wife.
It should be noted that, although The Artist is filmed in the U.S., it's primarily a French production. Certain actors, like Goodman, Cromwell, and Miller, and executive producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, are American, but the lead actors (Dujardin, Bejo) and director Hazanavicius are big names in French cinema. But therein lies the magic of The Artist: the silence unites all actors, and all notions of nationality are forgotten. The silence makes them universal, so there's nothing foreign about them.
The Artist is one of those films that's so different from other films of its time that it merits recognition and praise. A silent movie that's made in a time when silent film is considered obsolete, The Artist is both a touching, heartfelt homage to silent cinema and a beautiful, emotionally profound film.
So I'd like to end this review by writing a famous quote that's said in a few certain theaters before showing a film:
"Silence is golden." Yes. Yes it is. Rated PG-13. Four stars out of four.