Film: The Artist

It's been a while since I wrote anything for this blog, that's uni work for you! I have actually watched quite a bit of good stuff as well recently so hopefully I will remember enough about some of the things I have been watching to chatter about them!

We have also had the Oscars and BAFTAs. I watched the BAFTAs but not the Oscars, although I hear they went pretty much the same way, with the Artist cleaning up most of the awards it was nominated for and much of the other awards going to the same films too. After seeing the Artist do so well, I had to watch it. It hadn't really appealed to me as anything more than a 'something I'll get round to watching' sort of film until this point, but I was intrigued as to how it had blown a lot of other great films out of the water.

Trailer - the Artist

The Artist (in case you don't already know) is a silent movie set in the 1920s about George Valentin, a silent movie star (played by Jean Dujardin, an extremely gorgeous man) who is finding it hard to make the transition into 'the talkies'. The bright young star Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) is having no such problems, and we see her rise to fame as George's popularity dwindles.

At first I thought a) that this would be quite a happy upbeat movie and b) that it would be difficult for me to really get into and understand what was going on in a film with no words. Both of these first thoughts were actually wrong. Firstly to thought b), which I'm sure has put many people off this movie. The sound in the film all comes from music matched to the mood of the scene (apart from a very well done piece in the middle of the film, but I won't say any more as I don't want to ruin it for anyone) and expression all comes from the actors hamming it up. Sometimes their mouths move so that you can imagine what is being said, and occasionally there are traditional silent movie subtitle screens, but this doesn't happen that often. You would think it would be hard to follow but it's really not. This film is very well done actually, and I didn't expect to have enjoyed it and be saying this about it. You very quickly forget that there is no talking and become immersed in the story line of the film. There were very few moments where I didn't understand what was going on and where I lost interest, and that really surprised me given my earlier misgivings.

Jean Dujardin

As for the plot of this film and enjoyability (not a word but oh well) of this film, I was again surprised. As I said, I was expecting a very light, jovial, happy film with some light comedy and a lot of laughs. It turns out that this film is actually pretty dark in places, and there were many plot turns in it that surprised me because of the lightness I was expecting. At the beginning of the movie, we see George at the height of his career and fame. As the film progresses, events turn and George is left a broken and desperate man, grappling with his fear of 'the talkies' and his new found desolation. As there is no speaking, George cannot explain his feelings and so we see them almost through his own eyes, with dreams or symbolic references throughout the film. He starts off as such a happy character that his downfall is really sad, especially as we are brought so close to his own feelings. The audience is drawn in very well throughout this film and we can almost feel as if we are there in the movie with George.

I really enjoyed George's character and his plotline, but I can't say I feel the same about the charater of Peppy. She starts off as an extra in one of George's films, and they have an instant connection. He gives her some advice and she quickly becomes a star. She goes on to become (in my opinion) a bit full of herself and annoying. She seems like a really weak character as she doesn't have as much depth as George's character, and she did bug me throughout the film. She then takes on behaviour that seemed to me to be bordering on stalker-esque. This isn't the typical love story I expected either, but I won't say any more as I don't want to give anything away about the film; I think it is almost best viewed knowing very little about it and so not knowing what to expect.

Overall I did enjoy this film much more then I thought I would. I'm still not sure I can see why it cleaned up at all the award ceremonies; maybe it is the hype associated with this film and the fact that it is 'different', but it is definitely worth a watch if you ignore everything you have already heard about it before. You may be surprised how much you will enjoy it.

PS, there is also a really cute dog in this film.