Silent films hold an eerie and indefinable power. I’ve recently watched “Metropolis” again and found it to be utterly hypnotic, casting a spell through the eyes of its performers. “The Artist” knows this and uses the faces of Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo to playfully recreate a silent film from the 20s while, at the same time, managing to subtly parody its own conventions. There’s a gasp once we hear sound in a dream sequence and I found myself watching with a cheerful grin during its final scene. “The Artist” could be seen as a gimmick but there’s a good story behind its stylistic choices. We meet a star of the silent era about to enter his decline and the rise of a plucky actress on the birth of the “talkies” (the first talking pictures). Dujardin perfectly fits the role on what seems like a variation of the Douglas Fairbanks-type. He shows great screen presence (along with a fantastic smile) and seems already poised to win the Academy Award for best actor. And if he wins I hope he brings his four legged companion to the stage.
It seems astonishing to have “The Artist” in the same year as such callow entertainments like “Transformers” and “Twilight”. How many of today’s kids have seen a movie in black and white, let alone a silent one? But the film seems to already be a crowd pleaser and destined to be the big winner at the Oscars.
2011 was the year of nostalgia as Scorsese’s “Hugo” and Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” seemed to cherish the past (“Hugo” was not only a love letter to cinema but also a cry in favor of film preservation). “The Artist” doesn’t gloat in any kind of ambition; it’s a fun film, meant to inspire curiosity for silent film but mostly made for audiences to enjoy a feel-good story. This is one of the most entertaining and charming movies of the year.
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