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The Artist (2011)

Director: Michel Hazanavicius

Time Out rating

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82 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Michel Hazanavicius and actor Jean Dujardin are well known in France for their James Bond spoofs, the ‘OSS 117’ films. Now they hop across the pond to 1920s California for a loving – and silent – recreation of Hollywood on the verge of sound. ‘The Artist’ is shot in exactly the same speechless, monochrome style as the movies in which our tragic hero, actor George Valentin (Dujardin), employs a canny arched eyebrow or breaks out into a rip-roaring tap-dancing routine to woo his adoring audience.

It’s 1927, Valentin is a star, but, oh no, is that the sound of… sound, on the horizon? Valentin is an insufferable ham. He laps up the adoration at a premiere, ignoring his co-stars and hogging the stage with a trusty performing dog (a constant, cute presence in the film). His domestic life is shaky, and his wife isn’t impressed when he’s snapped outside the premiere with an unknown woman and they both appear on the cover of Variety. The woman is young, beautiful Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), who turns up as an extra on George’s next picture, ‘The German Affair’.

As they fall for each other, the sound age begins and Kinograph Studios sacks Valentin and contracts Miller as its star. George’s downfall – he loses his house, wife and servant (James Cromwell) – really begins when ‘Tears of Love’, his first picture as a producer-director-star, bombs on the same day that Miller’s debut becomes a hit. Will Valentin pick himself up, or is he destined to become a relic of the silent era and, cruelty of cruelties, a victim of the Wall Street Crash to boot?

The real pleasure of ‘The Artist’ is that Hazanavicius employs all the tricks and tics of silent cinema with wisdom, care and all the emotional and musical rhythm of the best of the films he emulates. It’s a movie about cinema that has a heart: it moves between funny and sad and turns the dawn of the sound age into a personal tragedy, expressed as silent melodrama. Its nostalgia is instructive: a scene of Miller and Valentin tap-dancing either side of a screen reminds us how visually inventive early sound films could be, and a scene of Valentin talking to a policeman that doesn’t have title cards reminds us that good silent films also demanded imagination from the viewer. It’s a gentle call to arms aimed at modern cinema.

Feature-length, knowing recreations of past genres can often be tiresome after the initial novelty has worn off, and yet ‘The Artist’ manages to keep up the same level of charm as its lead actor, Dujardin, throughout. Best of all, ‘The Artist’ never feels like a parody or a good idea that becomes laborious in the execution. It’s lovingly corny, great fun, good-looking and respectful. Silence being silence, you wouldn’t know it’s essentially a French enterprise – especially with John Goodman playing a big-shot producer – although Hazanavicius offers a witty nod to the film’s provenance in its final scene, reminding us that, yes, so many of the great silent Hollywood films were made by Europeans who crossed the Atlantic.

Author: Dave Calhoun

Time Out London Issue 2157/2158: 22 Dec 2011 – Jan 4 2012

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User reviews of this film

Joanna said...

Posted on May 03 2012 12:36 Thoroughly enjoyed it. Nice refreshing silent movie. Loved Dujardin and his expressive face! Loved the dog too. Deserved all the awards!

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Jean Standish said...

Posted on Mar 25 2012 11:01 The film was tedious and predictable. Yes, it was charming, but a film needs more than that to be a great movie. I guess I've been spoiled by watching the great silent films of the past and the wonderful actors, such as Harold Lloyd. This film was greatly overrated.

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Cortez said...

Posted on Mar 18 2012 22:52 Aw come on John. That hurt my feelings. I can only imagine how fun time would be spent by your side. Reading subscriptions to miniature trains monthly, stamp swap meetings and pen pals in Slovakia. The exciting life I have always yearned for but has somehow managed to evade me. Show me the way John, please you bundle of excitement you.

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James said...

Posted on Mar 16 2012 00:30 This style of movie making was left behind for a reason. Utterly boring movie of epic proportions. And for those of you having a dig at people for not appreciating this because it's not a CGI movie, please grow up. Nobody is asking for their excitement to be spoon fed. Just a decent movie with a decent story and a bit of soul served up. Not too big an ask surely?

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Cortez said...

Posted on Mar 16 2012 00:00 The most boring, pretencious movie I have ever been unfortunate enough to view. This is the second movie in my life of 41 years I have walked out of the cinema on. Agreed with many of the comments regarding this years Oscar panel. Irrelevant Dinosaurs! Two hours of my life I will never get back! And to those of you who think you have a special insight into the wonders of movie making and direction. Please, gimme a break! How this movie was awarded over the likes of the Descendants I'll never know. ps. two of the six people in the cineam last night were actually asleep one hour in. I was a close third.

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USMAN LATIF KHAWAJA said...

Posted on Mar 14 2012 02:23 it definitely is boring -and not just somewhat but quite boring like a film student made it for a class test rather than for the audience and its not silent -it has vertigo theme and a dog that barks and plays pranks and is really just another romcom in black and white with french actors and of course the euro dog too -no doubt the critics loved it -the dog barks in both english and french though and they dance like a poor mans version of fred astaire and rita hayworth too -kim novak protested but in vain as they had decided one of mister weinstein movies about'' hollywood tribute'' had to get all the awards this year -so the dog won in the end -silence please

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USMAN LATIF KHAWAJA said...

Posted on Mar 14 2012 02:22 it definitely is boring -and not just somewhat but quite boring like a film student made it for a class test rather than for the audience and its not silent -it has vertigo theme and a dog that barks and plays pranks and is really just another romcom in black and white with french actors and of course the euro dog too -no doubt the critics loved it -the dog barks in both english and french though and they dance like a poor mans version of fred astaire and rita hayworth too -kim novak protested but in vain as they had decided one of mister weinstein movies about'' hollywood tribute'' had to get all the awards this year -so the dog won in the end -silence please

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Th said...

Posted on Mar 06 2012 21:32 Agree totally with all the emperor's new clothes comments. This film is so boring, the only remotely funny bit is the one everyone's seen on the TV, and the story doesn't even make he grade as a cliche. How can the introspective world of cinema critics diverge so much from the paying public?

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Jeannie said...

Posted on Mar 05 2012 21:40 Well made pastiche of silent era melodrama. BUT far too long and booooring

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Karen said...

Posted on Mar 05 2012 19:10 "The Emperors clothes" is what came to my mind while watching this cute but shallow film. Of course, the idea of having a nice little dog to move the audience, especially women, was so predictable and boring. I almost felt like I wanted my money back.

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JohnnyP said...

Posted on Mar 05 2012 15:40 Good first act. Wayyyy too long second act with a few sublime visual flourishes short on narrative and absolutely no character development. Third act propped up by Bejo's radiance and the sublime Bernard Herrmann moment. I would have been less disappointed if the Miramax machine hadn't cranked up expectation, but hey that's showbiz. Ultimately a wonderful short film that outstays its welcome.

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DGarner said...

Posted on Mar 04 2012 22:00 Best film I have seen in many, many years. Sadly, from some of the comments posted here there is a generation so numbed by mediocrity in TV and film that they don't appreciate quality when they see it. This film employs all the craft of a great director and cast. I was very wary of the Oscar hype, but what I saw this evening was great entertainment and great movie-making. For once the Academy got it right.

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Betta said...

Posted on Mar 04 2012 21:38 The most boring movie I have ever seen

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Dave A said...

Posted on Mar 04 2012 13:13 Reviewer "Tom ato" more or less has it right. The ultra-retro credentials of this film have propelled it to fame. However, I'm just about old enough to have seen some of the original b&w silent movies and this one would have been, frankly, average or worse. Sure, everybody likes a cute dog but for this to win Best Film was ridiculous. They should have re-released any of the old Laurel and Hardy films and they would have given it a serious challenge for the Oscar.

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Mark said...

Posted on Mar 01 2012 18:59 The best film I've seen for a long time. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Both leading actors are brilliant, not to mention the dog!

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