The Artist

(2011)

Distributed by the Weinstein Company, this French production about Hollywood’s last waning days of the silent era is probably one of the best films of its type. Since the earliest days of the cinema, there have been many excellent productions of Hollywood on Hollywood, with Stand-In (1937), Sullivan’s Travels (1941), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Singin’ in the Rain and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) just some examples. Usually, these movies fell into two categories revealing either a highly romanticized account of Hollywood with all its glamour and excitement or the more realistic view of the sacrifices one has to endure through stardom. Both versions of Hollywood have been successfully portrayed. THE ARTIST, which depicts the life of a handsome movie idol, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), gives us the tragic story of his steady downfall following the transition of silent to sound pictures. But, before all this takes place, he meets an unknown starlet, Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), who he helps along the way in her rise to stardom. Both leads are absolutely terrific with Dujardin, who looks like a cross between old time movie great Ricardo Cortez and Gene Kelly (with a little bit of John Gilbert thrown in) and Bejo, whose story parallels that of a young Joan Crawford in her rise from jazz-age flapper to major movie star. In actuality, THE ARTIST is loosely based on the career of silent film legend John Gilbert and his tragic decline from stardom after the institution of talkies (definitely not a fault of his).

The film’s basic theme also resembles in many ways another superb silent film, which starred Marion Davies and William Haines called Show People (1928), which was directed by King Vidor. Another picture that comes to mind, is What Price Hollywood? (1932), which was a forerunner to A Star is Born (1937) and its numerous remakes. Others in the cast include John Goodman, who plays Al Zimmer, a producer who looks here amazingly like Charlie Chaplin’s frequent foil from his Mutual era, Eric Campbell. Malcolm McDowell has a small part as a butler and is generally wasted in this role, considering the fact that he caused quite a sensation in the seventies and eighties in controversial films like Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Caligula (1980). Technically, THE ARTIST hits the bulls-eye in every respect. The director, Michel Hazanavicius, obviously did his homework and is a true fan of the silent era. Camera set-ups are expertly positioned and the editing is also in the proper vein.
What makes the movie even more incredible is the fact that it is a silent movie and although I was anticipating some dialogue sooner or later (it doesn’t come until the very end), I was elated that even when the storyline was covering the sound era (up through 1931), the director didn’t succumb to the use of sound. The black and white cinematography is shot in a soft focus, keeping in the tradition of the twenties style and the screen ratio is 1.33:1, which was usually the actual size of the screen during this period. Director Hazanavicius reportedly stated that he prefers the old style ratio compared to the newer wide-screen format, saying that there is more intimacy between the audience and the characters on screen. The only flaw I found in THE ARTIST was the scene with Valentin (Dujardin) attempting suicide. Distraught, he pulls out a revolver and puts the barrel into his mouth (something that was never done in the silents…they usually placed the pistol at their temples). There follows a title “BANG!” Never have I seen a title card depicting a sound effect during the silent era. Since this film takes place during the time when silent films were using the Vitaphone (sound on disc) or Movietone (sound on film) processes, which gave us fully orchestrated musical scores along with sound effects, the filmmakers should have shown Dujardin putting the gun to his temple and following it with a shot of his trusty canine companion flinching as we hear the sound of an explosion off-screen. This method would have been far more effective in my opinion. Regardless of this minor incident, THE ARTIST is a film, which I hope will bring a renewed interest to moviegoers who have never seen a silent movie. In retrospect, let’s hope that the renting of such classics as Sunrise, 7th Heaven, Street Angel, The Crowd or The Wind, just to name a few, becomes a new sensation among cinema-goers. THE ARTIST is definitely worthy of a Best Picture nomination!

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