REVIEW: The Artist (PG)

Everyone's heard about The Artist surely? It's one if the most discussed movies for many a year and, for a change, there seems to be general agreement that this movie is good very good, in fact. It's a sweet and simple comedy set in the Hollywood of the late 1920s and early 1930s and tells its story through the cinematic language of the time: in black and white and, mostly, silent, with an outstanding musical score.



For those who have a love for, or interest in, early cinema it's been a good couple of months for movies looking back and celebrating early cinema. First there was Martin Scorsese's brilliant Hugo, a movie which, better than any other has ever managed, utilises 3D as a genuine cinematic tool. Now we have The Artist, exploring the end of the silent era and the dawn of the talkies.

George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a matinee idol, in the mould of Douglas Fairbanks or Errol Flynn - the romantic action hero who is the biggest name in Hollywood. Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), a young hopeful actress, bumps into Vslentin at the premiere of one of his movies and, as is the case in such silent movie romances, she’s cast as an extra in his next movie which he begins shooting the next day.

Valentin is unhappily married and Miller is considerably younger, so his relationship with Peppy never becomes more than flirtatious. Their attraction towards each other, however, is clear. With a little help from George, Peppy soon becomes a star in her own right but, as she becomes famous, his stardom begins to lose its shone. Peppy is ideally placed to benefit from the introduction of sound in movies but he is dropped by his studio as a has been of the silent era.

Writer-director Michel Hazanavicius references various screen classics including Citizen Kane, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, Billy Wilder and even some music borrowed (stolen?) from Bernard Herrmann’s score for Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo.

It's fair to say that, in many ways, the film is slight - it isn't trying to reinvent anything or do anything new, but it is a tremendous pastiche of a significant era in movie history and manages a few twists that add to the style rather than merely seem gimmicky.

The main two stars are tremendous and carry off their roles with aplomb. The main strength of the movie is the love story between them - gentle, sweet and totaly believable within the context of the genre.

Definitely worth seeing - will it win the Oscar for Best Movie? I'm not sure - my guess is it'll either win everything or nothing depending on whether those voting get behind the pastiche. There are probably better movies that have been made this year, but they don't have the same hype and expectation that The Artist has developed.