The Artist is a stunning novelty, a film that reaches back in time to create a modern, fresh experience for movie audiences today, and it succeeds on all levels. The picture, for the most part, is silent, shot in black and white, using the standard Academy ratio of 1.33:1. It’s not widescreen, in other words. It was even photographed at 22 frames per second, so when it’s played back at the normal 24 frames, the motion is slightly accelerated, just as it would be for movies from that era.
What’s so remarkable is that this gimmick could have worn out its welcome in the first five minutes, but instead manages to surprise, astound, and delight for the duration. The Artist is a perfect love letter to Old Hollywood and a bygone way of telling stories. It draws much of its inspiration from two classic films—A Star Is Born and Singin’ in the Rain—while the cinematography tips its hat to everything from Citizen Kane to Frankenstein. The brilliant pastiche score honors film composers Max Steiner, Erich Korngold, and Bernard Herrmann in particular, featuring his extended cue from Vertigo, and somehow it all comes together to tell a romantic tale of two people who meet when their lives are heading in opposite directions.
George Valentin (Jean Dujardin in a brilliant, Oscar-winning performance) is an established matinee idol, a dashing movie star who is celebrating the premiere of his latest picture. In the opening moments, we see him on screen playing a captured spy under interrogation. “I won’t talk! I won’t say a word!!!” reads the title card, while his foes yell, “Speak!” right back at him. Other than the terrific music, there’s no sound, of course. This meta-symbolism proves to be the ideal way to kick things off—a man trapped in a silent film, refusing to talk.
George is adored by moviegoers but not so much by his costar Constance (Missi Pyle in a delicious nod to Lina Lamont from Singin’ in the Rain). Among the hoards of fans waiting outside the theatre, George encounters Peppy Miller (Oscar nominee Bérénice Bejo), and it isn’t long before the two are costarring in a film together. Enter “talking pictures”—and a major shift in the industry. George laughs off the innovation as a trendy novelty, but Peppy takes to it like a duck in water. With character arcs paralleling A Star Is Born, George’s career is soon on the decline while Peppy’s star is rising.
George decides to put all of his own money into his next picture, another silent film, just before the stock market crashes and his wife (Penelope Ann Miller) leaves him. He is wiped out, with only his faithful dog Jack (played by Uggie, who steals every scene he’s in) and his devoted chauffeur (James Cromwell) to weather the storm beside him. Peppy tries to reach out, but George hits rock bottom. After his film bombs at the box office and his apartment catches fire, he considers taking his own life. Lucky for him, his dog Jack saves the day. Peppy, meanwhile, is rescuing George as well, secretly buying all of his belongings at an auction and storing them in her house. She even nurses him back to health after the fire, but George is convinced no one wants to hear him talk in movies. Then, straight from the Singin’ in the Rain Playbook, Peppy gets the inspired idea to have them dance instead. For their enthusiastic pitch at the office of studio head Al Zimmer (John Goodman), the film switches to sound, and the cameras roll on a splashy and stylish tap-dancing finale.
There are so many breathtaking moments in The Artist, it’s hard to know where to begin, from the perfect casting and direction to the incredible production design, costumes, hair, and makeup that flawlessly depict the era. But it’s the countless sparks of creativity that impress me most: the nightmare sequence where a mute George hears actual sounds of clinking glasses, laughing extras, and a feather landing on the ground with a thundering boom; or George when he gazes longingly through a pawn-shop window at the faded reflection of his ghostly face floating just above his hocked tuxedo; or the romantic but silent conversations between George and Peppy as they fall in love.
“Still wonderful, isn’t it? And no dialogue. We didn’t need dialogue. We had faces.”
– Norma Desmond, Sunset Boulevard
The dialogue is written on their faces, as Norman Desmond so famously said.
This film honors Singin’ in the Rain but does so from the opposite side of the aural transition. MGM’s predecessor was a musical, shot with sound and in color. By contrast, The Artist presents its story from the silent, black-and-white realm. This proves to be most effective when George sits at home alone, running his old movies on his apartment wall. The acting from Dujardin is magnificent and haunting in these scenes.
I remember the audience’s reaction when I first saw this movie in a theatre—big laughs, sighs, and gasps, more so than with other current movies. They weren’t concerned with talking over the film’s dialogue, since there wasn’t any. After a few minutes, I was listening to the responses around me. It was a different behavior, and it became part of the magic. They weren’t afraid to shout “Oh, no!” when George sets his apartment on fire, or burst into applause and whistles when his dog coaxes a policeman (Joel Murray) to come to his rescue. This wasn’t a time machine even though it paid tribute to a lost art form; this was a new film, entertaining audiences in a new way. I will treasure that experience forever. For that reason, along with the sheer greatness in all aspects of filmmaking, I celebrate The Artist as one of my favorite Oscar-winners in history.
The Artist
Director | Michel Hazanavicius |
Primary Cast | Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Missi Pyle, Beth Grant, Ed Lauter, Joel Murray, Malcolm McDowell, Basil Hoffman, Bill Fagerbakke |
Familiar Faces | Beth Grant from Rain Man and No Country for Old Men, Basil Hoffman from Ordinary People |
Firsts | First (largely) silent film to win Best Picture since Wings, first Best Picture produced entirely by a non-English-speaking country (France), first Best Picture to be presented in the Academy Ratio of 1.33:1 (or 4:3) since Marty, first entirely black-and-white winner since The Apartment, first French actor (Jean Dujardin) to win the Oscar for Best Actor. |
Total Wins | 5 (Picture, Director, Actor: Jean Dujardin, Costume Design, Score) |
Total Nominations | 10 (Picture, Director, Actor: Jean Dujardin, Supporting Actress: Bérénice Bejo, Screenplay: Original, Cinematography, Editing, Art Direction, Costume Design, Score) |
Viewing Format | Blu-ray Disc |