(Rated 5/5 )
This film is as adorable as its little canine star Uggie. It has charm, romance, humour, and intense drama. I was in tears several times through laughter or sadness and the emotions brought out in me came purely from empathy in response to the outstandingly emotive facial expressions of the actors. These do have an extra power if you take away the words of dialogue. In fact it has us wondering as to the necessity of words. Someone’s body language can say so much more and is more truthful.
So what happens to an actor when you take away their ability to express through speech? Well in this case it challenges them to perform their hearts out and deservedly earned Jean Dujardin – as silent film star George Valentin – and Berenice Bejo – as delightful dancer Peppy Miller numerous award nominations and best actor Oscar and BAFTA wins for Jean. (If it had not been for the phenomenon that is Meryl Streep taking on Margaret Thatcher this award season Berenice may well have joined him in winning.) George’s most devoted co-star on the silent screen and in the character’s life is ‘The Dog’ played by Uggie. Given that dogs read humans through their body language and are known to look to our faces to assess our moods there is a beautiful reflection of the essence of the film in this human-canine relationship.
The film is set at that moment of transition between silent films and the talkies. Do talkies kill the silent star? Well if he can’t talk then we’d expect the answer to be yes metaphorically and perhaps not just metaphorically as George sinks lower and lower into self-destruction with his career ruined.
We first meet Peppy when she is waiting hoping to meet her screen idol, George Valentin – still at the height of his success, amongst the crowds of fellow fans and photographers. She drops her autograph book and in the search to retrieve it finds herself out in the limelight right next to George. A pause while we wonder what she will do? She seizes the moment and with beaming smiles poses with him for the cameras. And so ends up on the front cover of Variety with him. How many movie-star fans, including myself J would wish to do the same with their idol? And how many would love to take it even further, as Peppy does by capitalising on the initial interaction by dancing her way onto the movie-set of his latest film as an extra, and then making such a profound connection in the little dance sequences they have together, supposedly in passing, that she ‘ruins’ several takes. Their connection is beautifully pure, profound and irresistible.
Peppy has made her mark and becomes the next big thing in the talkies. But she never loses sight of her love for George…
This is such a clever and apparently simple idea, which has so many layers. And such inspired use of the best qualities of silent film, together with what can be done with current film technology to highlight how the two forms can encounter each other with magical consequences.
As I entered the Coronet Cinema I saw a warning above the ticket office window that The Artist is a silent film. In fact that is only 95% true. I will write no more so as not to spoil it. In actual fact this film inspired me so much there is ever so much to say but I know my reviews tend to be very wordy and maybe I have something to learn from The Artist and use words more sparingly J.
The Coronet: A beautifully ornate, antique cinema with many, many stairs and somewhat in need of renovation. It is not easily accessible to the disabled. The day I went there was a severely limited supply of necessary paper in the facilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment