The Artist Review

Before you read my review, please do yourself a favor. Click play on the video above, and watch a small sample of the pure magic this movie has to offer. Go ahead. I can wait.

Have you watched it? Good!

The Artist. There is not much I can say. Except that this is, by far, and without a single doubt in my mind, the greatest movie I have seen in quite some time. It reminds me of the very reasons that I started reviewing movies to begin with. For every Adam Sandler crossdressing movie that has absolutely no overarching plot, and uses celebrities and fart jokes to pander to America's ever-lowering bar of accepted quality, there are movies like The Artist that remind you that there are still directors like Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, and in this case, Michel Hazanavicius making movies with substance and pure magic.

I have seen this movie twice. When I asked friends to join me, they refused on the grounds that it was a silent and black and white movie. While they consider it a turn off, I consider it it's greatest strength. The film is a callback to a time of innocence when films were about story, acting, and getting away from the world if only for a while. The Artist proves that you don't need huge stars, million dollar computer effects, or even color to have a good movie, you just need ambition.

The film is about a silent movie actor named George Valentin who goes into depression and failure after he refuses to participate in talking pictures. But with the help of an old co-star, he may just make a comeback.

There is always a difficulty in silent movie acting. You need to talk with your body. You rely on body language and dialogue cards to tell a story. Luckily, there is no issue here. Jean Dujardin may not be a household name to you, but in France he is the equivalent of Brad Pitt. He reels you in with his charm and his wit, even when he barely talks.

Berenice Bejo is the classic 1920s flapper, with her amazing good looks and carefree attitude. But she is much more than eye-candy, she is a catalyst that gets things moving, even without words.

The film is very self referential about the fact that it is a silent movie. Characters make numerous references to the fact that George does not want to talk, even when they aren't referring to his movies. The begininng of the film is a film starring George being tortured for information, and the first title card says "I refuse to speak".

SEE this movie. SEE this movie twice. That's all I can tell you. If this film does not win Best Picture, I will be writing a very strongly worded letter to the Academy.

A+