The Artist

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Writer/director Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist manages the trick of being both fearlessly loyal to an era of cinema that's long since passed and one of the few original motion pictures of its own time.

The movie stars Jean Dujardin as George Valentin, one of Hollywood's biggest stars of the silent era. Although he's stuck in a less-than-passionate marriage, he's lucky enough to be surrounded by adoring fans, a loyal assistant (James Cromwell), and his devoted pet dog. George soon makes the acquaintance of aspiring actress Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), and eventually they shoot a short scene together for his new movie. But then Al Jolson makes The Jazz Singer, and seemingly overnight George can't land a role, while Peppy Miller becomes the toast of Tinseltown. In desperation, George sinks his personal savings into a grand adventure story that he believes will win back the audiences who have abandoned him.

What sets The Artist apart from other showbiz rise-and-fall stories is that Hazanavicius, in honor of his main character, chose to shoot the film in black-and-white and without dialogue. Those idiosyncrasies will keep a great many moviegoers from thinking they'll want to see it, but it would be their loss, because for its first 45 minutes The Artist is a giddy, deliriously enjoyable cinematic experience. The jokes are fashioned to play to a modern audience, even if the techniques employed are as old-school as can be. Even the revelation early on that this will be a genuinely silent film comes in the form of a first-rate gag about performers waiting for an audience to erupt with applause. If there was ever a movie without a single line of spoken dialogue that could get nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, The Artist is it.

The writing isn't the only award-worthy aspect of the movie. Dujardin won the Best Actor award at Cannes for his work here, and it's a rich, star-making turn. Flamboyant yet grounded, funny yet moving, charming yet vulnerable, Dujardin turns George into a good man befuddled by how quickly his comfortable existence slips away from him. The second half of the movie, when George struggles professionally and romantically, doesn't have the same comedic rush of the first half, but even as the film grows slightly repetitive, Dujardin carries things along with his boundless charm -- nobody's worn a Clark Gable moustache with this much panache since, well, Clark Gable.

Tonally, the movie is just about flawless: Everybody is on the same comedic page, and one of the great joys of watching the film is seeing Hazanavicius' distinctive vision come to life with the help of inventive actors who all seem to know exactly how to modulate their performances. John Goodman plays the head of the movie studio, and his ample bulk is used to brilliant comedic effect (especially when he gets upset).

The movie does bog down slightly when it grows more dramatic, a fact that might have as much to do with how amazingly perfect the beginning of the movie is as it does with any particular faults about the more serious passages. It might be that movie lovers still return to the great silent comedians -- Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd -- because there's something about their dialogue-free tomfoolery that transcends time and cultural changes. The same can't be said for the vast majority of dramas from that period. Sure, "Sunrise" and Intolerance are landmarks in the medium's development, but they don't hold the same kind of power over seasoned cinephiles as The Tramp and The Great Stone Face still do.

But the second half of the movie also contains a brilliant comedic set piece involving George's pooch performing an act of bravery - it's a tremendous piece of "acting" from the little four-legged scene stealer. And the final scene delivers a payoff that makes you appreciate how well-thought-out the entire film has been from the very first frame.

The Artist is great because it's funny, not because it requires any knowledge of film history to understand or because it breathes new life into a seemingly stale style. It's just a movie that's in love with movies, and if it doesn't put a smile on your face, then maybe you don't love them as much as you think you do. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

• Jean Dujardin : Best Actor - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Bérénice Bejo : Best Actress - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Guillaume Schiffman : Best Cinematography - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Mark Bridges : Best Costume Design - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Director - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Editing - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Anne-Sophie Bion : Best Editing - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Julie Hewett : Best Makeup and Hair - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Cydney Cornell : Best Makeup and Hair - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Ludovic Bource : Best Original Music - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Original Screenplay - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Laurence Bennett : Best Production Design - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Robert Gould : Best Production Design - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Gerard Lamps : Best Sound - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Nadine Muse : Best Sound - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Michael Krikorian : Best Sound - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 2011
• Jean Dujardin : Best Actor - Broadcast Film Critics Association, 2011
• Laurence Bennett : Best Art Direction - Broadcast Film Critics Association, 2011
• Gregory Scott Hooper : Best Art Direction - Broadcast Film Critics Association, 2011
• Guillaume Schiffman : Best Cinematography - Broadcast Film Critics Association, 2011
• Mark Bridges : Best Costume Design - Broadcast Film Critics Association, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Director - Broadcast Film Critics Association, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Editing - Broadcast Film Critics Association, 2011
• Anne-Sophie Bion : Best Editing - Broadcast Film Critics Association, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Original Screenplay - Broadcast Film Critics Association, 2011
• Ludovic Bource : Best Score - Broadcast Film Critics Association, 2011
• Bérénice Bejo : Best Supporting Actress - Broadcast Film Critics Association, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Outstanding Directorial Achievement - Directors Guild of America, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Director - Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 2011
• Ludovic Bource : Best Original Score - Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 2011
• Jean Dujardin : Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Screenplay - Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 2011
• Bérénice Bejo : Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 2011
• Guillaume Schiffman : Best Cinematography - Independent Spirit Awards, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Director - Independent Spirit Awards, 2011
• Jean Dujardin : Best Male Lead - Independent Spirit Awards, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Screenplay - Independent Spirit Awards, 2011
• Jean Dujardin : Best Actor - National Society of Film Critics, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Director - New York Film Critics Circle, 2011
• Thomas Langmann : Best Picture - Producers Guild of America, 2011
• Jean Dujardin : Best Actor - Screen Actors Guild, 2011
• James Cromwell : Best Ensemble - Screen Actors Guild, 2011
• John Goodman : Best Ensemble - Screen Actors Guild, 2011
• Penelope Ann Miller : Best Ensemble - Screen Actors Guild, 2011
• Bérénice Bejo : Best Ensemble - Screen Actors Guild, 2011
• Jean Dujardin : Best Ensemble - Screen Actors Guild, 2011
• Bérénice Bejo : Best Supporting Actress - Screen Actors Guild, 2011
• Jean Dujardin : Best Actor - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 2011
• Laurence Bennett : Best Art Direction - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 2011
• Guillaume Schiffman : Best Cinematography - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 2011
• Mark Bridges : Best Costume Design - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Director - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Editing - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 2011
• Anne-Sophie Bion : Best Editing - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 2011
• Ludovic Bource : Best Original Score - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Original Screenplay - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 2011
• Thomas Langmann : Best Picture - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 2011
• Bérénice Bejo : Best Supporting Actress - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Edited Feature - Comedy or Musical - American Cinema Editors Guild, 2011
• Anne-Sophie Bion : Best Edited Feature - Comedy or Musical - American Cinema Editors Guild, 2011
• Guillaume Schiffman : Best Cinematography - American Society of Cinematographers, 2011
• Laurence Bennett : Best Art Direction in a Period Film - Art Directors Guild, 2011
• Jean Dujardin : Best Actor - Detroit Film Critics Society, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Director - Detroit Film Critics Society, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Screenplay - Detroit Film Critics Society, 2011
• Bérénice Bejo : Best Supporting Actress - Detroit Film Critics Society, 2011
• Michel Hazanavicius : Best Director - New York Film Critics Online, 2011

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  • The Artist

  

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• Actor Jean Dujardin

  

  • Cash

  

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• Genre Comedy Drama

  

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• Director Michel Hazanavicius

  

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