The Artist (Hazanavicius, 2011): France

Reviewed by Jose De Anda. Viewed at the SBIFF.

So much to say about this wonderful film. This is the best movie I’ve seen in a long time. The story was beautiful, the message was powerful, the cinematography was awesome, the dancing was great and the acting was superb. A total gem that will revolutionize film and be a work to study for years to come.

Lets start with the story. At the heart this is a love story. It is also a story about gender, about time and it’s passage, about the changing and acceptance of roles, about adapting and evolving; a powerful message indeed. The story follows silent movie actor George and up and coming rising actress Peppy. George is married but has immediate connection and chemistry with Peppy. Without spoiling too much the story follows these two characters and there endeavors with the change from silent films to talkies (a big part of the story).

Lighting. Although this is obviously a black and white I would say it’s lit in high contrast. The scenes are illuminated throughout most of the film, fittingly as this is a story of love. The lights do get dim though, take for example the scene where George is with his large shadow by himself. A dark moment, dark lights perfect. Excellent example of mise en scene done perfectly.

Editing in this film is fast and furious. There are not many long takes and the few ones that are are significantly between George and Peppy, the focus of the film. You see the deviation from the pace when he slows it down and focus on what matters, undeniable love between Peppy and George. The camera rarely takes a break before switching to a different location which makes for a very fast pace and a formalistic style.

Symbolism is awesome in this movie. The best example and one of the strongest scenes is the one where George is lamenting his hard situation and his shadow is surprisingly bigger than him. The director wanted to show how his character George felt. George was sad because he felt that his past was bigger than him, and that was why the shadow was so large.

The strongest scene in the movie is the one of Peppie holding the mannequin with George’s tuxedo. It was a beautiful scene that showed the movie in a nutshell. She is holding on to this figure of the man she loves. She can’t be with him because he’s so bent out on being the “Man” of the relationship. He clings to misconstrued and outdated gender roles and for this this film is very strong. Curiously he can’t let go of the past and drop the macho gender role expectancy. He can’t let her just take care of him, which he later overcomes in the movie.

Another very strong composition scene is the one between George and Peppy in the stairway. Peppy is on the higher part of the stairway while George is below her. This matches the moment, George was at the end of his career (apparently) while Peppy was at the height of hers. She was also the character that was able to care for another, making her the protective one in the relationship, which was difficult for George to accept. Details like this make this film so great.

Another beautiful lesson at the end of the movie is the fact that when George finally accepts that Peppy can take care of him he becomes stronger. Instead of no longer being able to act he acts with her. This is significant and intended to show you that it’s not weaker to be helped, it makes you stronger. This was another powerful deep lesson in a movie about love. Just to show you how much love can teach.

I loved this movie beginning to end and it was awesome. I would recommend it to everyone. This is a total must see, especially for anyone that appreciates the art of cinema. I would give it a ten of ten.