It's been a good year for nostalgia in cinema. From Woody Allen's ode to 1920s Parisian artists to Cary Fukunaga finding the beauty in Gothic literature to a frothy retelling of the early days of the Civil Rights Movement through literature, looking back on older art has never been hotter. For some, director/writer Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist is surely the crown jewel of nostalgic cinematic excursions of 2011. There is a lot of joy to be found onscreen in The Artist. It is a modern silent film in tribute to silent films, the transition to talkies, and the rise and fall of stars. George Valentin is the hottest star in the world until he refuses to transition to talking pictures. A chance meeting with a young fan leads to the rise of Peppy Miller, the first true star of the new film industry. Their respective fall and rise is the focus of the film.
Perhaps the best way to describe Hazanavicius' intentions is to recount a recurring image throughout the film. We as the audience are watching the film within the silent film. The camera jumps back to the balcony to show the crowd in the film watching the film in the film we were just watching. The Artist is candy-coated voyeurism and celebrity tourism without any of the guilt associated with the alternatives: trashy Made-for-TV movies, bitter memoirs from jealous relatives, and reality TV shows filmed long after the star should be a draw at all.
You watch The Artist to fall in love with film all over again. I can guarantee you some people will leave the theater saying "that's it?" I heard them while I was walking out myself. If you love film, you'll find something to love in The Artist. It's a nostalgic cinephiles dream in the same way Woody Allen set the modern Modernists hearts aflutter with Zelda Fitzgerald introducing a 21st Century author to Big Papa Hemingway himself.
Jean Dujardin is quite mesmerizing as falling silent film star George Valentin. He captures the likeable Hollywood guy persona so well when his character is out in public and shuts it down as soon as he's alone. There is so much more depth in George Valentin than the boilerplate of a plot description would lead you to believe. It's not even based in some very nice twists in the plot later on; it's Dujardin's embodiment of the character. George Valentin could have easily been just a persona, a placeholder for any Johnny Star that ever fell out of favor with Hollywood. In Dujardin's skilled performance, you never get to forget that the actor is a real person as soon as no one is looking.
As strong as the cast is (Berenice Bejo's Peppy Miller alone is reason enough to see the film), Michel Hazanavicius is the breakout star of the film. His direction is extraordinary. There are so many levels to what is happening in a given moment it can make your head spin. We're watching an audience watching a film being watched from behind the screen by the producers and stars waiting for the applause from the crowd. That's one of the simple scenes.
Hazanavicius clearly understands the artistry of film and all the old tricks that made a Hollywood picture a Hollywood picture. Valentin's costars in the silent films are using old Vaudeville tricks and near-pantomime performances while Miller's costars are more willing to play up interactions with each other with only a subtle wink to the audience before the ending title card. New cinematic techniques are seamlessly melded with old standbys for stunts. It's a masterclass in how to reference what has come before you while making something that stands on its own merits.
If you know anything about The Artist, you already know if you want to see it or not. I am just here to report that I believe the film is a great success at what it sets out to do. Whether that is enough to draw in a wide and varied audience is another matter. It's a love story to cinema that will surely be embraced by those looking for one.
Rating: 7/10
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