"The Artist" is written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, who is a lover of classic cinema. He wished to make this film and studied extensively to be able to present such a movie without needing to have too many of those cards coming up on the screen giving us the dialogue actually being spoken. (Those are called "intertitles", by the way.) Hazanavicius went so far as to present the film in the format it would have been presented back in this time period: Not a full widescreen on the movie screen, music being the absolute soundtrack, even the camera techniques. For instance, there was no zoom lens technology back in the silent movie era, so this movie has not a single zoom. Movies are also normally filmed at 24 frames per second, but this film utilized 22 frames per second to give a slightly sped-up movie resembling those of yesteryear. Sitting in the theater watching "The Artist", you truly feel like you've traveled back in time. Well, outside of the $10+ you'll drop for popcorn and soda, anyway.
The film opens in the year 1927 with a silent movie scene. Behind the screen is the cast and crew gauging the audience reaction, which winds up overwhelmingly positive. The film finishes and various members of the production take a bow, including top silent film star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin). His co-star Constance (Missi Pyle) winds up upstaged by both Valentin and his preferred co-star, his dog (Uggie!). George and Uggie show off on stage for an extended ovation. Later, outside the theater, George is signing autographs for his ecstatic fans. One fan (Berenice Bejo) drops her wallet as she's jumping up and down and tries to pick it up without upsetting the security, since the wallet has fallen beyond the cutoff line. Unfortunately, as she's retrieving it, she gets bumped right into George. Everyone stops and gets silent, and she is embarrassed, especially when George seems to have a look of shock and anger on his face. However, George is just teasing as he quickly smiles to tell her that it's fine, and soon everyone is relaxed. George even poses for photos with the lady, which fills her with enough courage to mug for the cameras as well, and even give George a peck on the cheek.
The next day, the newspapers are filled with the photos of George with this mystery woman, who we soon learn is named Peppy Miller. This thrills her to no end. It does not do the same for George's wife (Penelope Ann Miller). Throughout the first scene where we see George and his wife and many that follow, we can easily discern that she seems rather weary of the marriage and being the wife of such a famous movie star.
Peppy continues to beam about such publicity in the newspapers, and she decides to try and give Hollywood a shot, showing up at the studio with newspaper in hand. She winds up making the cut as an extra. George arrives on set and sees behind a large screen that the film crew is working with, a set of dancing legs that captivates him. He dances on the other side of the screen with the legs and soon has the crew remove the screen to surprise her. It winds up with George being surprised as he sees none other than Peppy.
Peppy starts out in her bit parts (even having her name misspelled on the poster for her first film) but winds up popular with movie audiences due to her beauty and her charm. Her star rises rapidly, and her name gets larger and higher on the movie poster with each film she makes. George and Peppy become friends along the way as well. Things are going as well as can be for both...until the studio boss (John Goodman) tells George of the new technology that is going to change the industry. Motion pictures with sound.
George doesn't think movies need sound, nor can win over moviegoers. However, as time passes, he sees his star falling as Peppy's star continues to rise, including into the talkies. Gradually, things get progressively worse for George. His wife, his career, his income...everything is collapsing. The stock market crash of 1929 certainly doesn't help either. He even winds up forced to fire his longtime chauffeur (James Cromwell). Ultimately, George winds up a complete Hollywood afterthought due to the changing times and his own unwillingness and/or inability to adapt. However, Peppy has never forgotten how George's influence got her own career off the ground, and there may be some deeper feelings there too.
"The Artist" is a French production but was shot in Los Angeles. It was shot in just 35 days at a budget of $15M, but has made nearly $31M in the United States thus far. We've truly never seen a film like this, and the critical reception has been overwhelming positive. The biggest critical backlash has been from, of all people, legendary actress Kim Novak. Her criticism isn't even in relation to the story, but the music used. The score incorporates a portion of that from the film "Vertigo". Hazanavicius respectfully replied that the score has been "sampled" in several films, and he did so here because of his love for that original film and score. Naturally, he got the permission to use it as well beforehand. When the worst criticism going on out there is a few people unhappy with borrowing a portion of an earlier score, it's safe to say "The Artist" is in good shape.
Thus far leading to the Oscars, this film has been the top prize winner in many cases, including the Critics Choice, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the Producers Guild. It seems to be the frontrunner for the Oscar as well, garnering a massive total of 10 nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Dujardin), Best Supporting Actress (Bejo), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score (a bit of a surprise due to the "Vertigo" mini-controversy), Best Editing, Best Art/Set Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design. I personally found the film to be nothing short of brilliant. It hasn't really been an overall easy sell to today's moviegoing public, trying to convince them a silent black-and-white movie is what they should spend their theater dollars on, but I can't recommend enough to everyone to give this movie a shot. Step into the time machine and let yourself be captivated by a great story told in pictures and music, and little else.
"The Artist" is currently still in theaters nationwide.
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