Review #3: "The Artist"

Will Means

Cannes Study Abroad

05/18/11

Review #3:

The Artist

Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist is a film that celebrates the magic of cinema while simultaneously managing to create movie magic of its own. I cannot remember the last time I walked out of a theatre feeling so uplifted and joyful as I did once the credits rolled for The Artist. It really is that wonderful.

That being said, The Artist is also one of the most ambitious and risky things to hit the film world in quite some time. It was released in 2011 and filmed within the past year, and yet it is a silent black and white film, shot in a classic 1.33 full screen aspect ratio. Taking place in the late 1920s and early 30s, the film depicts the era in which silent films began to become obsolete as talkies took over Hollywood. It also follows the downfall of one silent film actor named George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and the rise of an upcoming star named Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo). To make an era film about silent films that is in and of itself silent (save for two brief scenes), it would seem that the creator of such a picture would have to be quite the cinema-lover, which is why it is no shock to find out that although the film is in English, and most of the actors are American (with the exception of the two main French actors), most of the people behind the camera of The Artist are in fact French, including the director.

From the time the classically printed opening title cards begin to flash across the screen, the movie sweeps you up in a feeling of old-timey magic and it doesn’t let you go. It was quite the remarkable feeling to be with an audience that was cracking up laughing at some of the simplest forms of comedy, such as a cute dog doing tricks, or a woman holding herself to make it seem like she’s being held by a lover. It was the kind of comedy straight out of Chaplin’s days, and obviously it still holds good footing in today’s day and age, which is reassuring for a member of a generation that requires over-the-top gross-out R-rated comedies to get its comedy kicks.

The Artist is basically made up of conflicts and contrasts, whether it be the rising fame of Peppy vs. the falling fame of George, or the conflict between silence and sound. The main issue is that of silence vs. sound, but there’s a lot more at work within this argument than what appears on the surface. The argument for sound in movies is essentially an argument for technological advancement in cinema and art, and this is a message that truly resonates with the current day generation that is having the integration of 3D technology into films pushed on them more and more. George refuses to adapt to the new technology, calling himself an “artist,” but the positive thing that The Artist does is it shows the value in both forms of art. First and foremost, The Artist is a staggering achievement as a representation of the value of physical expression. The film has less title cards than any actual silent film I’ve seen from back in the day, but the actors in it manage to convey their emotions perfectly and the director takes special care to notice just how often the audience doesn’t need title cards but can pick up on the dialogue and emotions themselves. It proves that a lot can be done with very little.

However, the film also has its moments where it conveys why sound is an important part of film. Occasionally our main character, George, has moments where he can’t actually understand what people are trying to say to him because he can’t read their lips. The audience can’t understand what’s being said either. We need the sound, just as George does. The sound is used sparingly, but when it finally springs to life, it is used to create some of the most magical movie moments I’ve seen in quite some time. When an entire audience gasps because they hear the sound of a glass being set down on a table, that is indeed what I call movie magic! At its core, The Artist is a celebration of art, and the different ways that art can be expressed. This leads us to the rousingly happy ending in which the conflict for superiority between silence and sound is settled through another method of expression: dance.

The film gets a little too slow towards the middle of its runtime, especially when that period follows such an exciting opening. Luckily, it leads to an ending that is equally as exciting as the opening, but the film could benefit from some mild trimming near its midsection. Other than that, there’s not much wrong with the film. It’s beautifully shot and the subject matter is handled with such precise care by Michel Hazanavicius. The actors should be commended for their willingness to take on such demanding work (the silence does not make their jobs easier; one would imagine it makes them harder.) but each and every one of them owns it. They are not over-the-top with their bodily expression. In fact, the film does a good job of mocking over-the-top “mugging” and avoiding it. The physical expressions and bodily movements of the actors are very much rooted in realism, which is perhaps what makes the performances have that much more of an impact: because we are seeing these people go through emotions that we are so familiar with.

In the midst of a festival showcasing tons of realism-based films that depict what is wrong with humanity, The Artist effortlessly stands out as a giddy celebration of life rather than a contemplation of what’s wrong with it. For this reason alone, I think the film will be easy Oscar bait for the foreign film category, and it has every right to be. The Artist is a breath of fresh air. It picks you up and makes your spirits soar by the time the credits roll. It has that soul-cleansing feeling of a classic Disney film. Aside from a rather intense scene involving a man attempting suicide, the film has every right to earn a PG rating. These are all just a few of the reasons why The Artist is my favorite film I’ve seen at Cannes so far. It really is art at its cinematic best.

“The Artist”

Director: Michel Hazanavicius

Production Company: The Weinstein Co.

Runtime: 100 minutes

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle