The Artist

This film is yet another winner from executive producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein. When I heard about this silent movie from France that was getting attention leading up to the awards season, I knew that it had a good chance of winning Best Picture and I correctly predicted that it would do just that. The same thing happened to “Slumdog Millionaire” and last year’s winner: “The King’s Speech” (also from The Weinstein Company). It was only after “The Artist” won the Oscar that I got the chance to see it. I like risk taking in moviemaking and when it pays off, it is even sweeter. Having studied silent movies, I can see how well the filmmakers paid homage to this film style and at the same time, utilized it to portray the film's theme.

The film was certainly risky considering that it is silent and in black and white. Today’s audiences are used to color, special effects and sound because such things have existed for the past 80 years. “The Artist” fully acknowledges this in the story and that is an entertaining part of it. The opening credits were great in establishing the film’s style as silent and in black and white. A great introduction of the theme comes in the very first scene, which is actually a movie within a movie. George’s character ironically is being tortured so that he will talk. Jack then comes to the rescue and this is a good use of foreshadow. I like how George, Zimmer and the other stars wait for their audience’s applause and then celebrate after they hear it. Of course we don’t hear the applause and this sets up the ironic tone of “The Artist”. The film’s story is about a silent actor having to deal with a world where sound is the new direction. The story’s conflict is man vs. himself in that George must let go of his pride. The fact that this story is ironically being told in a silent medium makes the theme and story more powerful. George’s pride is evident by how much time he is on stage after the premier showing of “A Russian Affair”. When George and Zimmer are watching the sound test, I also found it funny because of how the microphone was obvious in the shot. This is historically accurate however because in the early days of sound filmmaking, the microphone had to be hidden in the set. Such technical obstacles led many people in Hollywood to believe that sound was just a passing fad. The nightmare scene is pretty well done. It is further evidence that the filmmakers are playing with the audience’s complacency with sound in movies. The use of montage is very well done in that it reflects the montages of the black and white films of the past. I love the cinematography in the establishing shots of George and Peggy's conversation on the staircase. It also is reminiscent of the establishing shots of the era. I like how Peggy goes to see "Tears of Love". Despite the fact that she is a rising star and that the theater is empty, she is portrayed as loyal and grateful. The scene where Clifton is fired is when the movie really started to get good for me. I really started to feel for these characters. I also love the reveal that Peggy was the one that bought most of George’s personal effects. The level of emotion kept building. The use of the Douglas Fairbanks clip was wonderful because it showed the audience and myself just how well the filmmakers of “The Artist” replicated the silent movie genre. I did not expect the film reel that George saved would be the dailies of the “A German Affair”. The music was perfect for this scene as we see the worn film images of George and Peppy dancing together and that brought tears to my eyes. I think “The Artist” is the first silent movie to make me cry and part of the reason for this is because I am a big fan of “Up”. The eight-minute montage at the start of that movie really showed me the power of using just music and images to create drama. Ludovic Bource’s musical score that accompanies the outtake from “A German Affair” was perfect. “The Artist” also features a classic D. W. Griffith chase sequence that was popular in 1930 era movies. George is contemplating suicide while Peggy rushes to his destroyed home. I love the use of the word “Bang” in the intertitles. We dramatically find out that it was not the sound of George’s gun but rather the sound of Peggy’s car crashing. I love how the subsequent scene is truly silent with no music. We are at the climax of the film when any film, silent or not, usually has climatic music but in this one case, there is nothing to be heard. We only watch as George and Peggy embrace one another. The epilogue is very good too as George and Peggy are depicted as the ones who invent the film musical.

Those working on this movie did extremely well as evidenced by the Oscars they won. Michel Hazanavicius deserved his Best Director Oscar in how well he resurrected a long discarded medium of storytelling. Because I have not seen all the performances of the other actors who were up against Jean Dujardin for Best Actor, I cannot honestly say that he deserved his win. On the other hand, he was better than Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”. Considering that his performance would only be seen and not heard, Dujardin did very well in playing George Valentin. I also like Berenice Bejo and she deserved her Oscar nomination. Her best moment was when she had her hand in the sleeve of George’s tux because it looked like someone else hand other than her own. To see the familiar faces of John Goodman and Oscar-nominee James Cromwell were welcome. Cromwell’s performance got better and better as the film progressed. “The Artist” more than deserved its Oscar nominations for cinematography and editing because of how well Hazanavicius & others recreated the style of the silent movie. The film was shot in 22 frames per second instead of 24 and that was paramount to recreating the medium. The Oscar winning costume designs are also noteworthy. The music in this film is the only sound we hear for most of its duration and therefore needed to instill most of the movie's emotion. Under this pressure, Ludovic Bource composed a great score and deserved his Oscar as well.

I have studied silent films such as “The General”, “Wings” and “The Circus” to name a few and I have an appreciation for them. The story of “The Artist” mirrors what happened to people like Buster Keaton, whose voice did not match his style of silent acting. This movie is only the second silent film to win Best Picture since “Wings” which was the first Best Picture winner in 1929. It is also the first movie shot in 4:3 aspect ratio to win Best Picture in almost 60 years. Even though I like “Hugo” and “The Help” more, the risk and payoff of this movie make it a worthy recipient of the ultimate award in filmmaking. “The Artist” shares a similar topic as “Singing in the Rain” and powerful executes it without a word being spoken until the final scene.

4 Stars