The Artist

The hot favourite for the 2012 Oscars is undoubtedly The Artist, a heady return to the glory days of silent cinema that should appeal to the romantic in any film fan. There's been some criticism that the film is too lightweight to accrue such acclaim, but the comedy and entertainment elements are entirely a part of the film's fabric. You couldn't make a silent film today without it being populist... only the most hardy of film historians would sit through a more downbeat return to silent filmmaking without complaint, and a great deal of the triumphs of the silent era were films that wore their hearts and senses of humour on their sleeves so openly. You can't pay homage to that without emulating it, and the fact that The Artist is such a riproaring success is because it captures all of that so authentically.

So why make a silent film today? Films started out silent because the technology to match audio to film had yet to be invented. Between the late 1890s and about 1928, the medium of film grew to become something else - both art and entertainment. The lack of sound meant that filmmakers and actors had to work extra hard to tell their stories, giving rise to an unfettered creativity that has forever made film a visual medium. The Artist is a film that looks at these roots in a metatextual way... the story is about fictional actor-director George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a superstar of the silent era who finds his career on the skids when he refuses to adapt to the rise of the talkies (talking cinema). The subject matter is reflected by the fact that The Artist is a silent film... it's a silent film about the end of the silent era, so it's a piece of art that comments on itself. The methods used to tell the story reflect the story itself.

You don't need to be a film historian to appreciate how fun and visually inventive The Artist is, but anyone with a passing knowledge of cinema's earliest days will note that it's rife with the mythology of silent cinema. The film references Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, the Wall Street Crash and the sob stories of the various actors left behind by the talkies. Dujardin is wonderful as George Valentin, able to embody not one but several archetypes of the era - he's an action man like the swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks, a romantic icon like the tragic Rudolph Valentino, and a physical comedy king like Chaplin, Lloyd or Keaton. The rest of the cast is equally perfect in their roles, Berenice Bejo and John Goodman both look their parts and act them out accordingly, with verve and enthusiasm.

There are a few little surprises in this film in regards to inventive sound design but I won't spoil any of them because the fun is entirely in being ambushed by the way The Artist plays it all out. This is a charming, innocent, visually imaginative and evocative film that tells a deceptively simple story in a big way. It's an A+ effort, and in an ideal world we'd see a few more filmmakers experimenting with telling stories in purely visual terms.

DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius
WRITER/SOURCE: Michel Hazanavicius
KEY ACTORS: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell, Ed Lauter

RELATED TEXTS:
- Hazanavicius and Dujardin previously worked together on the comedy spy-films OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies and OSS 117: Lost in Rio.
- The other film of 2011 to pay homage to the earliest days of cinema is Hugo.
- Other films about the end of the silent era: Singin' in the Rain and Sunset Boulevard.
- The last silent film to be made was Mel Brooks' Silent Movie, in 1976.
- And if you enjoyed The Artist and want to check out more silent cinema, I'd recommend Sunrise, The Crowd, Broken Blossoms and City Lights.

AWARDS
Academy Awards - won Best Film, Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), Best Director, Best Costume Design and Best Original Score. Also nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Berenice Bejo), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Original Screenplay.
AFIs - won Best International Film, Best Internation Director and Best International Actor (Dujardin). Nominated for Best International Screenplay.
BAFTAs - won Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Dujardin), Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Original Music and Best Original Screenplay. Also nominated for Best Actress (Bejo), Best Editing, Best Make Up and Hair, Best Production Design and Best Sound.
Cannes Film Festival - won Best Actor (Dujardin). Nominated for Palme d'Or.
Golden Globes - won Best Film (Comedy/Musical), Best Actor - Comedy/Musical (Dujardin) and Best Original Score. Nominated for Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Bejo) and Best Screenplay.
Independent Spirit Awards - won Best Film, Best Actor (Dujardin), Best Director and Best Cinematography. Nominated for Best Screenplay.