The Artist (2011)

31 December 2019

I was told I'd like The Artist, and I heard different reasons from different people: it's a love letter to the close of the silent film era and the start of "Talkies". It's a wonderful story, both representing the era and at time paying homage to it. It is a well crafted film technically. It has a well trained dog.

I think what really solidified my opinion of The Artist is that it still is a film of our era, not really sacrificing the quality of the film on outdated ideas. When emulating silent films production can be marred by the inclusion of immature actors, cheap story, poor filming quality, in the interest of making it feel "more from that time". However, in The Artist you could really feel the effort made to create something great that transcends filmmaking eras. A few scenes especially come to mind: the side views of building stairwells (the Bradbury building); the sheets in the house (reminding me of Citizen Kane);  the climax of the film. They felt pulled directly from older films, but it always did a better job than the source material (cleaned up and improved). Much like Peppy Miller is inspired and considerate of George Valentin's character, this film is considerate of its roots and shines because of it. It won 7 Academy Awards in 2011, including best picture, director, actor.

On a separate note, Kim Novak from Vertigo (1958, 10/10) fame harshly criticized The Artist's inclusion of the love theme (Scene D'amour) in the film. In Variety she said "I feel as if my body — or at least my body of work — has been violated by the movie." Director Michel Hazanavicius disagreeing, citing his film The Artist as a love letter to cinema, and he was honored to get permission to include the Bernard Herrmann music in his work. 10/10