Country:
France
Starring:
Jean Dujardin
Bérénice Béjo
John Goodman
James Cromwell
Malcolm McDowell
Directed By:
Michel Hazanavicius
Synopsis:
Silent movie superstar George Valentin (Dujardin) is on top of the world. Whatever he does is a tremendous success. That's until talking movies start to gain popularity and he slowly and painfully slips into obsolescence. It's a young dancer he once met on a shooting set named Peppy Miller (Béjo), who rises to Hollywood stardom. They are bound together, though and even their opposite path can't separate them. George and Peppy have a destiny they can't fight.
Winning the Oscar is like winning an election. It's unlikely you were the best candidate, but everyone will look up to you anyway. THE ARTIST won the Academy Award for Best Movie in a year where DRIVE was the best movie released. To its credit, it was probably the best movie amongst the nominees list, with THE DESCENDANTS and THE TREE OF LIFE being close seconds. It had, by far, the most original and playful idea. Will it be a fondly remembered winner or will it become the second coming of A BEAUTIFUL MIND in collective memory? It was an ambitious project, to say the least, to have french actors play in a silent movie about the silent movie era and have it hit the big screens of Uncle Sam hard.
How does it fare against the high expectations it set for itself?
A movie like THE ARTIST is a risky bet, because by doing a nostalgia film about a long gone era, you're deliberately stripping your project. It's like having to fight with one hand tied behind your back. My main issue with THE ARTIST is the way Michel Hazanavicius wrote and structured it. It's exactly what I expected to be. A silent film about two actors in love. Nothing about it surprised me. Hazanavicius obviously understood he needed to write a quirky movie to have it to work, but he spread the wit really thin. There are winks to D.W Griffith and to Charlie Chaplin, but it's evident and stretched at both ends of the movie. Maybe he was afraid to shoot a masturbatory film about cinema history. I can understand that, but a silent film makes things obvious by nature and there is little happening aside from the George and Peppy story.
Let's give credit where credit is due, THE ARTIST is good at what it does. Jean Dujardin is a terrific lead. He looks nothing like his American counterpart. His charisma doesn't need words to tear through the silver screen. He can warm up the set with a smile only. THE ARTIST is Dujardin's American breakthrough, but the french crowd is already crazy about him. He won me over in 2007's adaption of a Lawrence Block short story CONTRE-ENQUÊTE and THE ARTIST is just the consecration of his talent. Another proof of his versatility. The gorgeous Bérénice Béjo undergoes a stunning metamorphosis as flapper girl turned superstar actress Peppy Miller. Her unique facial features and her wide-eyed, candid game make her a perfect partner for Dujardin. The movie is built around them and they own up to it.
If the decision was mine, would have I given the Oscar to THE ARTIST? Probably not. I would've went with Alexander Payne's more subtle and complex THE DESCENDANTS. But it's easy to understand why THE ARTIST won. It's a straightforward film about love for cinema, it's from a french director and it's an overall quality film. It was a win-win situation for the academy. The only weak point of Michael Hazanavicius' movie is that it's predictable. A nostalgia movie is a breeding ground from witty references and I didn't find many to THE ARTIST. I did find strong performances and contemporary actors who live up to the incredible challenge of making silent movie relevant again. I would have loved to love THE ARTIST more than I did. I was sold to the concept at the very start. It was a solid movie, but it was also very safe. Safe art doesn't sweep me off my feet.
SCORE: 78%