The Artist

I haven’t seen a movie for a long time, but Thursday I saw The Artist. I was excited that it finally opened in my city. I am a huge old movie fan, and I was looking forward to seeing a “modern silent film,” especially since it has received so many accolades.

The plot of The Artist is simple. We meet silent film star, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), at the height of his popularity, just as he meets a young aspiring actress, Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo). They are attracted to each other; however, George is married.

In 1929, the head of the film studio, Al Zimmer (John Goodman), is anxious to jump on the bandwagon and make “talkies.” George is not as anxious to move to talkies.. He thinks that his fans will still want to see him in silent films and he produces his own, which is a box office flop. Having put all his money in the film, George is now destitute, his wife having left him also. However, Peppy, who started in small talking films and has worked her way up to leading lady, is a box office sensation. She is also still stuck on George.

I won’t give away the rest of the plot. You can find it elsewhere if you want. However, if you haven’t seen it, I would suggest not knowing what happens before you see it. It is so well done, and pays homage to many old films, most obviously Singing in the Rain, and A Star is Born. The “silent movie” bit works very well. It’s great for modern audiences to see how much emotion they can feel when there are no words spoken, and, at more than one moment, no music at all.

The first thing that made me smile was the credits. They were done the way they used to do them in the 20s, 30s, 40s. After listing the actors, the technical crew was listed in one (or two, I can’t remember) list, and then they listed the producers, and director (who also wrote the movie). And, half way through the movie I realized that the movie was not filmed in widescreen, it was square (or we might say full screen) like the shape of most televisions (well, older televisions) as the movies were before cinemascope, vista vision, etc. prior to the 1950s. I just loved that it was filmed with that much detail.

Side Note: I saw Gone with the Wind at a movie theatre once, and was surprised that it was “full screen” and didn’t fill the entire screen, and then I remembered that it was filmed in 1939 before movies were “widescreen.” For some reason I felt that with the scope of that movie it should fill the entire modern screen. Silly me.

I loved the sets. They were so perfectly reminiscent of the era. Some of them took me back to a few of my favorite movies. They reminded me a lot of the classic Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films. I especially loved the staircase at the movie studio. The way that scene was filmed was wonderful, showing off the staircase, but keeping the intimacy between George and Peppy.

The performances were very good, and it must have been very difficult to act without a typical script. I wonder if the director gave direction as the movie was being filmed. I believe that's how the directors worked in the silent film era, because they could. I especially enjoyed James Cromwell's performance as George's chauffeur. And then there's Jack (played by Uggie), George's dog. Now I understand all the hoopla about him at the Golden Globes. If they gave acting awards to animals, Jack deserved it.

I wouldn’t say that the film is perfect. Having seen many silent films and movies from the 30s, I felt that the sometimes the acting and mannerisms were a bit too modern, but there were times when “real” acting was perfect for the scene.

I do have a few other qualms. In one scene, George and Peppy are filming their first scene in a movie together. I think that because it was a silent film they didn't need music for the actors to dance to when they were actually filming this scene. Everyone was dancing differently. Some were doing a waltz, some were doing the modern “stand in one place and sway,” and others were doing something else. They just seemed to be dancing to their own music, and to a different beat. It bugged me.

I thought that Peppy’s hair was so wrong for the 20s and 30s. It was the right length, but it was messy. Women in that era had very “styled” hair, especially movie stars. However, I did love her hats.

I would recommend this film very highly. I would also recommend renting (or buying) some old silent films or films from the 30s and see what the movie is paying homage to. Even though they are more than 60 years old, some are such classics that they never will grow old. I think The Artist is proof of that.

Quippy Quote:
George: Farewell Norma, I never loved you.