The Artist

The first three movie posters I passed as I left the theatre were for Wrath of the Titans, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D, and Titanic 3D: a sequel to a generic action movie and two 3D rereleases. And it is with a defeated disposition that I accept this to be the majority of modern cinema. That being said Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist is a welcome departure from the doldrums of modern, commercially-minded, film products.

The Artist is a black and white silent film, and to be honest that was enough for me to want to see it. I like to see movies that throw away normal conventions and take a risk in their production, and the idea of making a silent movie and trying to market it to a modern audience seems to be a very risky business move. But when a movie studio takes that risk it's a good sign that they are more interested in the art of film than the product of film. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make money from your artistic ventures, but the fear of not making money should not frighten film-makers into playing it too safe and repeatedly creating the same product. So with the intention of having more people support what I consider to be a very artistic film, I highly recommend The Artist.

However...

I did have some problems with the film, and though I fully support its artistic boldness, I do want to give it an honest review. Towards the end of the movie I started to feel its length. The problem seemed to lie in the pacing of the plot. The movie begins in 1927 and follows the rise and fall of two actors over the course of the decade. The first actor is silent film heartthrob George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) who tries to find his place among the new talking pictures; and the other, the young, Hollywood upstart Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo). But George's fall and Peppy's stardom happens over the course single a montage towards the beginning of the film. The bulk of the film is dedicated to George feeling sorry for himself as he continues his plummet. Things do happen on his way down and he does make an attempt to pick himself back up, but ultimately it is his pride that drives him downward, and like Charles Foster Kane before him, I found the story of the fall kind of boring. I just have a hard time feeling bad for proud millionaires.

The cinematography is beautiful, the acting is great, and the writing is clever; John Goodman, James Cromwell, and Malcolm Mcdowell make nice cameo appearances. And if my biggest problem is that The Artist is too much like Citizen Kane then I guess I shouldn't complain.

Eight out of Ten.