2011, Michel Hazanivicus

Such magnificence! As advertised, The Artist is an enthralling love letter that captures the silent film era of cinema with such aplomb; a captivating recreation of a time long passed. I can’t even say that I’m an enthusiast of silent cinema, but the throwback here by writer/director Michel Hazanavicius and everyone else involved makes me want to be. He fills it to the top with such charm and loveliness, it’s one of those films where you can feel the adoration of it’s creator pouring over every frame. The film is getting a lot of attention and appreciation for this unique style, but it also excels in the very basic ideas of what makes a film work.

The Artist is built around the story of George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a silent film star whose light begins to fade as talking pictures arrival in Hollywood and what begins as this charming love letter to silent cinema becomes a fascinating and emotional journey with a complex character. Valentin is charming and handsome, but his success has led him to become quite smug and arrogant, mugging for the cameras and ignoring everyone who helped him get where he is. When the spotlight moves away from him, and towards new stars like Berenice Bejo’s plucky Peppy Miller, he’s forced to take a look at himself and what he doesn’t like what he sees.

French star Jean Dujardin takes this character on a roller coaster emotional journey and the road he’s taken down has some very strong emotional highs and lows. Critics of the film have often cited that it’s “too light”, but I couldn’t disagree with this more. I was surprised by the depths of despair the film took me down with a Depression time period giving it an interesting social relevance and some heartbreaking moments of devastation for Valentin. In spite of all of his arrogance, the man still seems to have a heart of gold and Dujardin plays him with a charm that won me over pretty quickly and got me very invested in him.

The film is certainly the child of Hazanavicius, whom you can feel in every moment, but Dujardin is a revelation in the leading role. The character of Valentin goes through a wealth of development during the film and he plays each scene expertly, fully embodying this person. When we meet him he is all about mugging for the camera and basking in his spotlight, all charm and no depth, but as he sinks further into depression and isolation we begin to explore what the man is made of deep down and it’s a fascinating journey into his mind. Stripping away an actor’s use of speech, you would have expected it to be a very internal performance, but I was blown away by how outwardly emotive Dujardin was able to be here.

This is one of those roles that you feel someone was born to play, as he uses his body language and that unbelievably expressive face to portray a wealth of emotions, along with some intimately internal work along the way. With his unique, charming and winning chemistry with all of the actors, from the glowing Bejo to James Cromwell as the resilient driver to Uggie the dog, he commands every moment of this film. Hazanivicius is responsible for all of it, but Dujardin completely owns it.

The Artist is memorable in just about every way, especially in it’s astounding recreation of an era long gone. Film has evolved so much over the decades, but somehow everyone involved here was able to transport themselves and the audience back to the silent era. It’s truly remarkable, even just on a technical level. From the way it’s shot and edited to something as basic as the way the actors act, going for broad strokes as opposed to the more “natural” acting we experience today.

With this, we were given a gift of a film that one hundred percent feels like it comes to us from another time period. With a bounty of instantly classic scenes, from the dancing legs to the climatic “Look what you’ve become…”, this is a true winner that is an absolute crowd-pleaser but also surprised me with it’s dark themes and emotional depths. I have to admit that this didn’t seem like the kind of film I would have taken to, but it absolutely won me over in every way.

B

I always loved watching these people accept their awards because they were so full of life and just so purely adorable and enjoyable, but I was terrified to watch the film because I was worried that I would hate it and then be miserable about seeing them win. I’m so glad that it turned out this way, for the first time since I started following the race in 2005 I have a (presumed) Best Picture winner that I am 100% on board with during the race.

Film #19 of The 365 Film Challenge.