The Artist

Last weekend (or thereabouts) I went to see The Artist. After hearing all this Oscar buzz about it, and discovering it's a contemporary silent film - and French - I just knew I had to see it, especially in the theater. Silent films really are best when viewed on a big screen. Some might say this is true for all films, but I will...disagree. I don't recall a big screen (or 3D for that matter) doing much for Beowulf.

In any case, I was a bit put off at first, since I have very specific expectations of a silent film, and it seemed fakey to get into the theater, watch previews in color and sound, and then BOOM be hit with silence. After about five minutes, I got used to it, though. And I loved it.

The story is about George Valentine, the artist: the egotistical darling of the silent screen, whose best and only friend is his dog, and his adoring fans, who toss him aside once talkies burst onto the scene, and he refuses to transition, considering his "art" more important than some fad - the "future." 

The side-story is that of Peppy Miller, Valentine's biggest fan, who is encouraged by him (coincidentally - he never actually has anything directly to do with her decision) to go into acting, and becomes more famous and popular than him. In fact, she steals his thunder and inadvertently destroys his career (well...his divorce and his own egomania contribute) and he becomes destitute and desperate. However, Peppy is in love with him, and saves him in the end. 

I also loved Jean Dujardin as Valentine. He was perfect! I first saw his work in France - he's known there as a comic and for his television roles. While I was living as a student in France, I watched Un gars, une fille all the time with my host sisters - and totally developed a crush on Jean Dujardin.  The show is cute, made up mostly of skits about a young married couple and the shenanigans they get up to - sort of like Friends meets Saturday Night Live, but actually funny.

With just the right amount of modern sensibility, nostalgia, charm, poignant story line and overdone acting, The Artist, to me, deserved all the praise it got through the BAFTAs, the Academy Awards, - every thing. It is one of the most innovative films I've ever seen, in that it is being cutting edge by returning to traditionalism, the roots of cinema, and redefining them. I see The Artist  as an allegory for the modern world: we should look to the past for inspiration - not to relive it, but to consider how we are shaping our world. The past is never dead, but a memory that has evolved into our consciousness, imposing its will on us whether we think of it in that way or not.