Starring - Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell
It has taken far too long for me to get around to watching this Best Picture Oscar winner from 2012, but better late than never.
The story is straight forward; it follows the careers
of silent movie star, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and new starlet,
Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), as the 'talkies' are introduced in
Hollywood(land) during the late 1920s. The simple story has a run time
of only 100 minutes making it a sweet, uncomplicated film which never
feels like it has overstayed its welcome.
The two stars are perfectly cast. Dujardin has the
look of Clark Gable and the goofy charm of Cary Grant. He manages to
convincingly convey sorrow, joy and a decent into madness without a word
(he thoroughly deserved his Best Actor Oscar).
Bejo lives up to her character's name as she is vivacious and delightful to watch throughout.
Another mention must go to Uggie the dog who is almost
as big a star of this film as the human actors. The hard of heart may
look at his involvement in the storyline as cheesy but as Britain's Got
Talent has proved, the public love a dog act.
From the opening seconds, the look and feel is of an
authentic 1920s silent film. It's beautifully shot which more than makes
up for the lack of speech. However I must admit that seeing big names
such as James Cromwell, Malcolm McDowell and the wonderful John Goodman,
without hearing their voices was slightly strange.
On a personal note, it was a wonder, but also a little
sad, to watch how cinema used to be with audiences laughing, gasping
and cheering. There wasn't a mobile phone or nacho in sight. A time when
everyone went to the cinema purely for the film (maybe I was born
decades too late).
I would recommend this film to everyone but I am under
no illusion that they would all enjoy it. There are people who will
just not appreciate a picture that does something a little bit
differently. If you love film; not just the big blockbusters but film
and cinema as a whole, then I urge you watch 'The Artist'.
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