Two magnificent movies about the movies in the space of a few months! Spoilt! The Artist is a wonderful movie and very deserving of the Oscars won this week.
For those of you who don't follow the Oscars hoopla, you may not even know what this movie is about. I mentioned going a few times to B and he said "what's that about again?" and I have to agree the title is not really all that descriptive or memorable. But don't worry, the movie definitely is memorable. A warning upfront - it's a silent movie and in black and white. While black and white movies have been scattered amongst releases even up until fairly recently (Good Night and Good Luck being my most recent memory), a true silent movie hasn't been seen for quite some time. There is music for the majority of the time, some well used sound effects in a dream sequence and a handful of words. But this is a throwback to the time of the original silent movies, where story and emotion are expressed through facial expressions and body language, with a few title cards in between where there are conversations between characters that you need to understand. My lip reading skills were surprisingly good in these scenes though.
Fittingly for a silent movie, the plot follows silent movie star George Valentin (French actor Jean Dujardin) whose career is stellar but his marriage seems to be less than happy. At the premiere of his latest movie, he literally bumps into young aspiring actress Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo in a role that was specifically written for her by her husband, director Michel Hazavinicius) and their magical moment lands them on the front cover of all the papers. Peppy then tries out for a movie which turns out to be one of George's movies and they further their acquaintance. However, a dark shadow is looming as a new invention rears it's head: "talkies". The studio is excited to offer George parts in the new talking pictures but George, perhaps fearing change or perhaps too egotistical to realise how popular the talkies would be, refusese to participate. And so begins the decline of a mega wattage movie star which is packed with drama, made all the more so by the rise of Peppy Miller who endeared herself to the public and stars in a multitude of talking pictures. However Peppy finds it hard to forget about her early mentor and possible love match. That's about all I want to give away on plot...
Putting aside the great visuals (beautiful black and white cinematography, gorgeous period costumes, fun choreographed dance scenes and fascinating Hollywood locations) and jaunty soundtrack, the acting is at the heart of the success of this film. Best kept secret in France Dujardin is so charming as George when he's on a high, and really touching in George's low moments. Bereneice Bejo is just so beautiful and sassy as Peppy (very aptly named character) and she has such good chemistry with Dujardin I'd be worried if I was her hubby, director Hazavinicius. Special mention also to Uggie the dog and James Cromwell as George's loyal driver and manservant.
I hope that the Oscar wins (for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Costuming) will keep this movie on our screens for a bit longer and encourage more people to go and have a look. It really is delightful, even when it does go to some darker places than you would expect, and a magical look at the movie business. Five stars!
No comments:
Post a Comment