The Artist.

It was another one of those days when I had to choose between making a surprise appearance at work, and spending an evening at the cinema. I’ve never liked surprises.

In case you’re wondering why I don’t give updates of my New York finances anymore (all one of you), I haven’t forgotten. Just waiting for significant updates, instead of a catalogue of a tenner lost here and a twenty gained there.

Oh, and I’m listening to ‘Reptilia’ by The Strokes. If you’re not familiar with The Strokes, well, I feel sorry for you. Intro, check. Music update, check. Insult the reader who takes the time to read my blog, check. I think there’s only one other thing left to do then…

*****


Right. Where to start? Okay. Let’s begin with a bit of ambience, immerse you into my world a little bit. I have this shiny little thing called a Cineworld Unlimited card. For a very reasonable monthly sum, I can watch any movie I like at Cineworld for no extra cost (except 3D and iMax). Cineworld are dicks, however, who would only show the film I intended to see at a branch five fucking miles from my house! Now, ordinarily, I’d contemplate a killing spree (GBH at the very least), but not this time. This time, I was ready to go to another cinema and drop as much money as was needed. Why? Because I needed to see this movie.

Let me quickly tell you what it’s about: its 1927 and George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is the greatest silent actor in Hollywood. Everyone loves him, he’s an icon, and he’s just met Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), wannabe actress and quite possibly the love of his life. But there’s a problem – sound. George’s refusal to embrace this exciting new cinematic technology starts to ruin his life; and on the other side, Peppy’s career skyrockets up. Basically, he’s in the shit.

I could probably express my opinion with three short letters – wow. The Artist is one of the best films I’ve seen in a very long time. And I’m bloody glad, because I had incredibly high expectations. 99% of the things said about it were positive, and I was worried the hype would kill it. It didn’t. It not only met those expectations, but surpassed them, frankly.

Obviously, the talking point (no pun intended) of the movie is the fact that it’s shot entirely as the old-school silent movies were, in black and white and accompanied by orchestra backing and subtitling.The story is just so engaging, and the acting so strong, that the fact nobody has said a single word isn’t even important.

The star of the show is Jean Dujardin. The man is incredible. From the moment he appears on screen, you believe everything he does. The film rests squarely on his shoulders, and the guy delivers. But don’t take anything away from Berenice Bejo: as leading lady Peppy Miller, the girl is stunning. I mean, she’s fucking gorgeous, yes, but her performance is just as powerful. In exactly the same way, we believe her as a character, and want to see her succeed. Scattered around the two leads are great actors – James Cromwell, John Goodman, Penelope Ann Miller, even a brief cameo from Malcom f’in’ McDowell! Not a single performance can be faulted. This is a group of people who have thrown themselves into a bold and courageous production, and made sure it succeeds.

Oh, and the dog in this film is INCREDIBLE. I can say with complete confidence that the dog steals every scene he’s in. Trust me.

Quick shout-out to Michel Hazanavicius. He’s the writer and the director of the movie. This is his vision, he made this happen. He better get a bloody Oscar for it.

It’s hard writing a review when everything is so positive, because it just ends up sounding like verbal masturbation. Just go out and watch this film. Please. There hasn’t been a film like this in roughly eighty years, and there won’t be one like it again. If that isn’t enticing enough, I really can’t do much else.

*****

Verbal masturbation is fucking exhausting. I like it when people are reading this part of the blog, because it usually means they’ve been interested enough to read all the way through. Thank you, interested people. I’ll bow out by saying that ‘Long As I Can See The Light’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival is playing. An old band, but I just got into them now. Some good stuff, you should check it out.

Quick plug – follow me on Twitter: @writeofcentre.

That’s it then. Tune in next time, same Bat-time, same Bat-place.