The Artist is a non-musical, somewhat more contempletive variation on Singin' In The Rain. Sound has come to Hollywood, and the silent film stars must either adapt or pass into obscurity. Jean Dujardin plays George Valentin, a silent star who finds himself very rapidly going from top of the world to bottom of the heap. The movie chronicles his fall and also a developing relationship between him and a new star of movies with sound. The plot does drag in one or two places, but on the whole the movie does have a light and quick-moving feel to it.
The first question I was asked after I saw The Artist was whether I thought it deserved the Best Picture award. The only truthful answer to that is "it depends on what it was up against." There are still a few of the nominees from last year that I have not seen. But certainly of those I have seen it is hands down the best. It is in every way, especially in the risks that it takes, a masterful piece of filmmaking.
Two features are immediately evident upon starting the film: it is black and white and it is silent. The two had to go together of course, as the movie strives to capture the look and feel of the 1920's style of film. It wildly succeeds. Everything from the fashions people wear to the cars they drive to the way the sign says "Hollywoodland" to the way people move and act on screen, to the light switches on the wall all seem perfect. In watching this movie you are transported to the 1920's Los Angeles, and everything about that transport is wonderful. Moreover, visually almost always there is more than one thing worth noticing on screen at any time. Two people have a conversation in front of a poster for a movie titled something like "He Stole Her Heart." He denies the importance of sound in film, while next to him is a "Hear no Evil, See no Evil, Speak no Evil" monkey statue. In every way the movie is visually compelling.
And certainly the most impactful aspect of the film is its use of sound. It hit me like a slap in the face how much I expected certain things and did not hear them. For example, right in the beginning we are watching the screening of a new silent film by the movie's star. So we are watching a silent film in a silent film, if you are following me. What is gloriously jarring is how the title "The End" comes up, and we wait with Valentin for the audience's applause; it comes wildly, with great enthusiasm, but we do not hear a whit of it. I had forgotten for a moment that I was watching a silent film, and almost checked to see if I had muted the speakers! From there the use of silence grows ever sweeter. Just as Schindler's List used a bit of color in an otherwise black and white movie to emphasize a certain dramatic element, so also The Artist uses a bit of sound to bring out certain themes very dramatically. There is a marvelous dream sequence Valentin has where everything begins making noise around him -yet we still cannot hear his voice. What is odd, of course, is the fact that he KNOWS we the audience hear all these things, but cannot hear him. And thus is revealed his fear; that in the changing of Hollywood he, George Valentin, has lost his voice. Will he find his voice by the end, or will he give in to despair?
Yes, this is a movie worthy of Best Picture. Risky, because who anymore these days goes to see a silent black and white movie? (Besides total geeks like me, I mean.) But those risks pay off in phenomenal ways, making The Artist one of the absolute must-see films of the past year.
Entertainment: 5/10
Artistic value: 9/10
Technical merit: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
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