"The Artist"... name one, they were all good
"The Artist" was so unlike any films being made in recent memory, you almost need a film history class to really appreciate it. I'll do my best to give one even as I appraise the film.
First, the film was NOT shot in letterbox. That didn't exist in the silent films days, so the filmmakers didn't use it. I loved that. The leads were unrecognizable to an american audience and Jean Dujardin as "the artist" George Valentin (great name for the era too) did a stunning look at halfway between Eroll Flynn and George O'Brien (summertime). I loved that too.
The film was totally silent... and of course, by that, I don't mean it was without sound, it was a silent film-- no speaking or sound effects... save ONE scene; George's fearful dream that sound pictures are the wave of the future-- and he is a mute.
The story itself is simple enough, but the devices to bring us back to a time gone by were utterly captivating. The music was just piano, basically, much of what I remembered from watching silent films at my uncle's movie theater as a child... Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin. The wipes and transitions were all throw backs. The costumes and sets were pitch perfect, and the two leads were so skilled in bringing to life a very modern post-'method' acting (more on that with "my week with marilyn") into the physical "masking" for the camera of older movies-- you almost didn't know that you were watching a film from 2011.
The plot is simple, but thats what they were then. It works. It is fun to watch the simplicity of the leads... and unlike "Beginners" here is a movie where a dog works.
I recommend "The Artist" to any and all and then I recommend going out and finding some silent films to view (who knows, maybe even Netflix has them... but surely your local library does). You can enjoy the oldies for what they are and what they were, and by seeing them; you can enjoy the "The Artist" for it's true beauty.
First, the film was NOT shot in letterbox. That didn't exist in the silent films days, so the filmmakers didn't use it. I loved that. The leads were unrecognizable to an american audience and Jean Dujardin as "the artist" George Valentin (great name for the era too) did a stunning look at halfway between Eroll Flynn and George O'Brien (summertime). I loved that too.
The film was totally silent... and of course, by that, I don't mean it was without sound, it was a silent film-- no speaking or sound effects... save ONE scene; George's fearful dream that sound pictures are the wave of the future-- and he is a mute.
The story itself is simple enough, but the devices to bring us back to a time gone by were utterly captivating. The music was just piano, basically, much of what I remembered from watching silent films at my uncle's movie theater as a child... Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin. The wipes and transitions were all throw backs. The costumes and sets were pitch perfect, and the two leads were so skilled in bringing to life a very modern post-'method' acting (more on that with "my week with marilyn") into the physical "masking" for the camera of older movies-- you almost didn't know that you were watching a film from 2011.
The plot is simple, but thats what they were then. It works. It is fun to watch the simplicity of the leads... and unlike "Beginners" here is a movie where a dog works.
I recommend "The Artist" to any and all and then I recommend going out and finding some silent films to view (who knows, maybe even Netflix has them... but surely your local library does). You can enjoy the oldies for what they are and what they were, and by seeing them; you can enjoy the "The Artist" for it's true beauty.
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