Film Review: The Artist

Director: Michael Hazanavicius

Yes I did have to look up how to spell the director's name and its possibly a name we will be hearing more from based on the current success of 'The Artist' which won three Golden Globes after six nominations. It is the first silent movie to be nominated for Best Picture since The Patriot back in 1929 so you can imagine when the film was announced it wasn't expected to be gaining so many nominations at the Golden Globes and Oscars. I won't add anything to the controversy of Kim Novak's comments about using parts of the score from Vertigo by Bernard Herrmann except to say that this was obviously a publicity stunt on her part. Shame she is trying to taint the memory.

The only question remaining was who was more impressive Jean Dujardin as George Valentin or Uggie the dog who plays his faithful companion. Now there is no doubting the talent the dog has and at the Oscars he should be given a special award for canine achievement in a motion picture but lets not take away from the two superb performances by Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo who plays Peppy Miller. They are both characters that are incredibly likeable and are easy to root for throughout the movie. Bérénice Bejo is beautiful in her role and portrays the youthful enthusiasm of someone just starting out in the business. Together they seem very natural together and this only adds to the enjoyment of the film.

Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo

George Valentin is a silent movie star who at the beginning of the film hogs the applause from the audience at the premiere of his latest film before finally letting his co-stars briefly enjoy the success. After accidently bumping into Valentin whilst he is posing for pictures outside, Peppy decides to audition as a dancer in one of his films to try and meet him again as well as become a movie star herself. The movie starts to chart the downfall of silent movies taking Valentin with it whilst Peppy Miller is the new star of the talkie movies that are now popular. It does show how fickle Hollywood can be and that past success is no guarantee of future success. Throughout the film and especially at the end both Dujardin and Bejo get to showcase their dancing skills which are superb. A scene right at the very end really is impressive, especially by Bejo considering the heels she is wearing!

One of my favourite scenes is where Valentin is seen to wake up in his dressing room where he can suddenly hear noises as he puts his coffee cup down but still cannot talk. It was a clever little scene which broke down the fourth wall so well before returning to the music and silent movie style. The film looks better in black and white to put us in the mood of a silent movie, one impressive part of the movie was how little they used title cards to convey what was being said. Often gestures were clear enough to deduce the what was being said and what the mood was at that time. My only criticism of the movie is that the end becomes a bit sluggish and probably lasts 5-10mins too long but the finale is worth waiting for.

3.5/4 a loveable film with two amazing performances from the leads and not forgetting Uggie the dog!