Yesterday, Himself took me to see The Artist, French director Michel Hazanavicius's much feted paean to silent movies of yesteryear. The trailers for and hype surrounding the movie have been everywhere and profuse in their praise, and there is much to like about this appealing and beautifully realised homage.But be warned - the movie is not quite the Oscar worthy masterpiece many have deemed it; in fact I'd say its more of a charming, overly long curio.
The movie's story takes place in Hollywood(land) between 1927 and 1932 and tells the tale of George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a star of the silent movies whose career nosedives after the genre is usurped by talkies, which feature rising star Peppy Miller (a captivating Bérénice Bejo, the director's missus don't you know). Shot in the same aspect ratio as the silent movies it apes, the black and white movie captures the feel of the genre perfectly and it was fascinating to interrogate the different way one responds to movies devoid of dialogue as the movie progressed. There were some nice little set pieces which played on sound brilliantly, and some neat visual symbolism and surrealist gags which I enjoyed, drawing on a lost innocence associated with silent movies. Bejo in particular seemed to encapsulate the charisma of stars of the period (it will come as no surprise that I coveted every single item she wore), and sturdy support came from character actors I always enjoy, John Goodman and James Cromwell, playing a studio boss and Valentin's loyal and long-suffering chauffeur respectively.
However, taking the movie as a whole, I'm afraid I can't join the ranks of infatuated critics. I think I'd have enjoyed it more had it been half an hour shorter - during the final part, I guiltily felt my attention wandering. Though the actors acquitted themselves well and were on the whole innocent of the 'mugging' Peppy associates with silent movies, I found Dujardin's performance hard to sympathise with and felt the film's final scene - which I won't ruin for you - was a little cliched and obvious a choice. This movie is attracting people in their droves, for reasons which I can't argue with. But sadly its rather pedestrian take on the form will do little to revive it.
Agreed! I think I enjoyed it more than you did, on the whole, but I definitely felt he could have done more with it. It's just a very clever impersonation of a 20s film.
Posted by: Sarah Brett | January 12, 2012 at 01:35 PM