review - The Artist

“The Artist” – the most celebrated film of 2011, the darling of the critics & the toast of the Oscars. So dare I say this – just watched it this evening!

There was in me this inertia, a strange reluctance to take the plunge, where this movie was concerned – was it the hype, or that I was skeptical about a black & white silent film, or just the fact that the director & most of the lead actors were unknown to me? I was rooting for George Clooney winning the best actor award for the “Descendants” & regarded the lead actor of “The Artist” as the enemy!
The only thing I knew about the French director, Michel Hazanavicius, was that this dude has a great sense of humour. At the BAFTAS, when he accepted the ‘best director’ award from Brad Pitt, he announced he was thrilled & wonderstruck …. that Brad Pitt had pronounced his name right! I am sure that post-‘The Artist’; it won’t be just Mr. Pitt who will know how to roll that name off their tongues!
Silence being the medium, it is the craft & skill of the director, which makes this movie speak volumes – amazingly, you never miss the presence of dialogues or the spoken word – the sounds of silence cast their spell & tell a remarkably simple, touching & poignant love story!
Aided by a stellar cast; led by Jean Dujardin playing George Valentin, an actor who is at the peak of his career & the toast of Hollywood. Unable to sustain his success, with the advent of the talkies, he falls on hard times. What an effortless & utterly charming actor! We witness a budding romance between him and Bérénice Bejo, as Peppy Miller, an upcoming actress, who goes on to become a sparkling success.
While enough has been said about the Oscar winning director & lead artist, it is Berenice Bejo who shines – the feisty young starlet, who catches the attention of the hero, dances like a dream & looks like a million bucks. The chemistry between the lead pair crackles & sizzles & their tap dance finale – an audio visual treat, where they give Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers a run for their money!

Presenting “The Artist’ – the silent movie, which paradoxically made the maximum noise at the Oscars & deservedly so;
Applause!