The Artist (2011, Michel Hazanavicius)

[Mysterious Dude]

Two things to say:

1. I was surprised how many people were in the theater on a Wednesday afternoon. I've seen silent movies in theaters before, but never a new silent film. The last was Metropolis, and I suspect most people in the theater had seen versions of that film before. But The Artist is new and offered genuine surprises. It was a great pleasure to hear someone gasp at a title card.

2. I've heard people say that the main actor, Jean Dujardin, resembles either Sean Connery or Gene Kelley, while I've been saying he's clearly meant to look like Douglas Fairbanks. After seeing the movie, I feel some vindication, because there is a scene where George Valentin is sitting in his apartment watching the 1920 film The Mark of Zorro, and I'm pretty sure we're meant to see Douglas Fairbanks as George Valenin.

[Pop Trash]

I haven't seen this, and it might be just as good as people say, but I'm surprised there aren't more Guy Maddin fans mentioning Brand Upon the Brain! and Cowards Bend the Knees (among others?) as modern silent fair.

[Spinal]

I enjoyed this a lot. It's a really well done love story, potent in its simplicity, but also specific enough to not feel tired and familiar. While it is nostalgic, it does not feel maudlin because it brings new life and energy to an old mode of storytelling. It doesn't feel like an essay (Midnight in Paris) or a museum lecture (Hugo). It feels like a vibrant new film. It demonstrates what we've lost from the silent era not through words, but through its form. We experience the visual creativity and the focus on basic, powerful human emotions, which is the best argument anyone could make.

[elixir]

I got to ask. Was anyone else irked by the use of the Vertigo score at the film's emotional climax? It really bothered me.

[Spinal]

I got to ask. Was anyone else irked by the use of the Vertigo score at the film's emotional climax? It really bothered me.

Didn't recognize it.

[Ezee E]

Didn't recognize it either.

[Watashi]

I got to ask. Was anyone else irked by the use of the Vertigo score at the film's emotional climax? It really bothered me.

I recognized it immediately. Then again, I listen to the Vertigo score constantly.

I was kinda irked by it.

[Watashi]

How do you not recognize one of the most famous pieces of film music?

[eternity]

My mom told me that she's seen a few dozen silent films in her life, and this was easily one of the lesser ones. I was happy to hear her say that, because I thought this was a shamelessly derivative meta gimmick that amounts to nothing more than a few really lazy jokes and a dog doing cute shit.

The two groups that seem to appreciate this, film critics and Academy voters, are the two groups I would have thought would be offended. Guess not.

[Watashi]

What's offensive about this film?

[Watashi]

This movie isn't a silent film. The director wasn't trying to replicate 20's silent cinema where this movie would be indistinguishable from films of that era. It's a simply a modern example of how sound changed the industry. The gimmick is just a homage. I find it interesting that the two leads are both foreign actors while the rest of the cast were American.

I don't love the movie, but I respect it enough to get people out there watching a movie like this. Certainly better than The King's Speech or Slumdog Millionaire whose films are only trying to be "crowd-pleasers".

[Ezee E]

I said it somewhere, but I basically think of this as something on par as to what Kill Bill is to kung fu movies or Death Proof to Grindhouse movies.

[eternity]

What's offensive about this film?

The meta in-jokes are so obvious and cloying that the tribute it is paying almost seems mocking.

[Watashi]

The meta in-jokes are so obvious and cloying that the tribute it is paying almost seems mocking.

How is that offensive? I have no idea what "meta in-jokes" you are referring to.

[Spinal]

The meta in-jokes are so obvious and cloying that the tribute it is paying almost seems mocking.

This was not my experience at all. I don't think this is a film about gimmicks. I think this is a film about two very specific and very rich characters, first of all. And then the director has selected appropriate and engaging conventions through which to tell this story. Far from mocking, I think the film successfully captures the elements that make silent film an enjoyable experience. I think it also addresses a difficult reality of life: that we can find someone or something both beautiful and obsolete. Simultaneously. This is true of silent film, but it's true of so many other things.

[Morris Schæffer]

Just got back from it and the first thing I did was google actor Jean Dujardin because I wanted to know what he looks like in casual photographs. I was a little stunned to be honest. I mean, crap, he really looks a star from yesteryear, absolutely remarkable and it's a fine performance. I also want to echo what Isaac touched upon and that is that I never though that a single word could convey so much horror and drama, but that is exactly what happened at the end.

I have to say this transcended its slightly gimmicky conceit effortlessly and once I surrendered to its charms & poignant, timeless story, time flew by remarkably fast. The greatest compliment I can give it is that at the end, when [

Show Spoiler

the actors finally start talking, it felt a little jarring to me, disrupting the old skool "magic" The Artist had shot forth from its imaginary wand.

]

All right, so the dog lives, but for once that is entirely acceptable for this is no ordinary pooch.

[Fezzik]

I really, REALLY liked this. It was just a joy to watch. Both Dujardin and Bejo were wonderful (as was the dog, natch).

I agree that its silence wasn't a gimmick, but can see why people would think that.

[

Show Spoiler

The dream sequence, where everything has sound but he can't speak is one such scene I could see people pointing to, but I loved it.

]

This film also had some of the best lighting work I've ever seen, and the only time I wasn't completely lost in it was when John Goodman showed up, because I was reminded that it was a modern film at that point.

Still, just glorious and exquisite. It might be my new favorite of 2011.

[ledfloyd]

[

Show Spoiler

The dream sequence, where everything has sound but he can't speak is one such scene I could see people pointing to, but I loved it.

]

yet this was the one time in the film i thought 'ooh, an original idea!' and got excited. but then it turned out to be nothing.

[Ezee E]

The cinematography was definitely influenced by Citizen Kane.

[Pop Trash]

yet this was the one time in the film i thought 'ooh, an original idea!' and got excited. but then it turned out to be nothing.

Right. I really liked that scene too, but wondered why it couldn't just be "for real." I'm mean, we're obviously in a movie-movie world, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch.

[Ivan Drago]

There are a lot of words that describe this film, and pretentious is not one of them, much to my relief. I loved every second of it.

[Grouchy]

In a world with the likes of Singing in the Rain and Sunset Boulevard, this film is really pointless to begin with. I understand that is unfair to expect any new movie to step up to those masterpieces, but it's just my way of saying that I found this very derivative, predictable and frankly boring.

It's well made, and the actors are perfect for their roles - the girl is a stunner, and she's Argentinian - but it offered no surprises and it took way too long to get to its point while all the time I knew exactly what was going to happen.

By the way, I agree with Kim Novak. Of course I recognized the music instantly since Vertigo is my favorite movie, and I was very annoyed that Bernard Herrman's name wasn't on the credits. You can pay for and use any famous film music you want, like Tarantino does with Morricone, but give credit where credit's due.

[MadMan]

Its probably because I have never seen Singing In The Rain, or because I don't care that there have been far better silent movies than this one (I know because I have seen them) that I loved this movie a lot. Nah, that's not it: I liked it because I thought The Artist was well directed and acted, and I really enjoyed it. The Artist is similar to The Hurt Locker in that yes it cracks my Top 10 for a certain year and yet despite it not being my #1 I have no problem with it winning Best Picture even though more deserving movies have been nominated. Still I don't think that The Artist is as much a lock as people think.

[Pop Trash]

Annoyingly, this just won the Indie Spirit BP award, which, unless there is some huge upset tomorrow, it will be the first time since Platoon that has happened.

[Morris Schæffer]

I've seen very little silent movies (well, just one really) nor have I seen truckloads of black and white movies (more than one tho) so that for me The Artist felt unique, original, a staggering breath of fresh air in an era when none such movies are offered. I don't think it was pointless. I was swept away by the power of its timeless message. And the music is beautiful as well, and it's all Belgian!!! Well, the orchestra is.