The Artist...Film Review
Jul. 28th, 2012 10:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat[I'm envious of the European coverage of the Olympics - you don't have Ryan Seacrest interviews of US athletes, or the commercials. Has got to make a difference.]
The Artist
Finally watched this on DVD tonight. Better than expected. I did sort of doze off during the middle section and had to rewind, but other than that...
Can definitely see why the guy who played George Valentin won best actor. He is amazing in this film. Doesn't ham it up at all...like they usually do or many of the other actors did.
And you can see everything he is thinking and feeling without the actor saying a word.
From everything that I'd read, frankly? I expected a tragedy like A Star is Born and it did remind me a great deal of that film. Except Valentin doesn't hook up with Peppy until towards the end. Nor is he really instrumental in furthering her career. In A Star is Born, the female protagonist is not only discovered by the male lead, her career is furthered by him, he becomes in some respects her mentor and her lover. They live together, even get married I think. Then her career takes off and his dies. Unable to handle her success, he commits suicide. This film has been done many times. In fact while watching this film, I thought how many times have they done this? My favorite version is the Judy Garland/James Mason film - because Garland is amazing in it and Mason blew me away. The Fredrick March version is I believe the first time it was down, way back in the 1920s? I'm most likely wrong on that. But don't feel like googling it at the moment.
But this film really wasn't the same story as "A Star is Born". We get very little of the story through Peppy's perspective and the bits that we do are focused entirely on George Valentine. This reminded me a little of a film/mini-series I saw on TV back in the 1980s or 90s where Garbo helps Valentino make a come-back and fails. Here, Peppy succeeds because she figures out a way that George can return to film without speaking. He can dance. So they do a tap dancing routine, and finally we hear them speak.
The film much like Hugo felt like an ode to a bygone era. And it's not surprising both films popped up this past year - for the silent film area took place just before the Great Depression and the beginning of the technology age. Both Hugo and The Artist are at their core - about change and handling change. Something I can identify with - in my mid-40s, I feel a lot like George Valentine and the Ben Kingsley character in Hugo...as if I'm stuck and the world is passing me by. Struggling to keep up with it. To deal with the constant advances. And changes. And not be left behind. I think this feeling is universal. The fear of not being able to keep up, of being left behind, of having to get out of the way of that brand new thing. It's why The Artist grabbed so much attention and won over a lot of hearts.
While it is a good film in many ways, it's not a great one. It is sluggish in places. The storyline is almost too focused on the self-absorbed and narcisstic George Valentine. Who yes is very likable. You sort of fall for him - but 90% of that is how the actor portrays him, with a self-deprecating charm. The filming or visuals are quite stunning - depicting how a 2D Black and White film can be visually gripping - in its use of shadows and light.
And how the film-makers use mirrors to emphasize Valentine's narcissism and pride - that threaten to ruin and destroy him.
The dog...Uggi, who bore a surprising resemblance to the dog in Frasier. He certainly gets around. Same dog was in Beginners. Hard-working dog. But cute and made me want one. He
also managed to provide Valentine with a softer side, made the character likable.
In some respects, I preferred the Scorsese film "Hugo", but The Artist definitely has its moments. Afterwards, I felt the oddest desire to rewatch my DVD of Singing in the Rain - which this film also reminded me of - in respect to the dance scenes and blond actress that Valentine is fighting with and making fun of in the beginning. Actually in way Peppy is Valentine's karma for what he did to the blond in the beginning, who he relentlessly mocked.
I give The Artist kudos for being a film about a less than likable protagonist, who had multiple layers...and ending on a high note. Showing that yes, we can handle these changes, we can rise above our own human failings, pride and envy to do so.
The Artist
Finally watched this on DVD tonight. Better than expected. I did sort of doze off during the middle section and had to rewind, but other than that...
Can definitely see why the guy who played George Valentin won best actor. He is amazing in this film. Doesn't ham it up at all...like they usually do or many of the other actors did.
And you can see everything he is thinking and feeling without the actor saying a word.
From everything that I'd read, frankly? I expected a tragedy like A Star is Born and it did remind me a great deal of that film. Except Valentin doesn't hook up with Peppy until towards the end. Nor is he really instrumental in furthering her career. In A Star is Born, the female protagonist is not only discovered by the male lead, her career is furthered by him, he becomes in some respects her mentor and her lover. They live together, even get married I think. Then her career takes off and his dies. Unable to handle her success, he commits suicide. This film has been done many times. In fact while watching this film, I thought how many times have they done this? My favorite version is the Judy Garland/James Mason film - because Garland is amazing in it and Mason blew me away. The Fredrick March version is I believe the first time it was down, way back in the 1920s? I'm most likely wrong on that. But don't feel like googling it at the moment.
But this film really wasn't the same story as "A Star is Born". We get very little of the story through Peppy's perspective and the bits that we do are focused entirely on George Valentine. This reminded me a little of a film/mini-series I saw on TV back in the 1980s or 90s where Garbo helps Valentino make a come-back and fails. Here, Peppy succeeds because she figures out a way that George can return to film without speaking. He can dance. So they do a tap dancing routine, and finally we hear them speak.
The film much like Hugo felt like an ode to a bygone era. And it's not surprising both films popped up this past year - for the silent film area took place just before the Great Depression and the beginning of the technology age. Both Hugo and The Artist are at their core - about change and handling change. Something I can identify with - in my mid-40s, I feel a lot like George Valentine and the Ben Kingsley character in Hugo...as if I'm stuck and the world is passing me by. Struggling to keep up with it. To deal with the constant advances. And changes. And not be left behind. I think this feeling is universal. The fear of not being able to keep up, of being left behind, of having to get out of the way of that brand new thing. It's why The Artist grabbed so much attention and won over a lot of hearts.
While it is a good film in many ways, it's not a great one. It is sluggish in places. The storyline is almost too focused on the self-absorbed and narcisstic George Valentine. Who yes is very likable. You sort of fall for him - but 90% of that is how the actor portrays him, with a self-deprecating charm. The filming or visuals are quite stunning - depicting how a 2D Black and White film can be visually gripping - in its use of shadows and light.
And how the film-makers use mirrors to emphasize Valentine's narcissism and pride - that threaten to ruin and destroy him.
The dog...Uggi, who bore a surprising resemblance to the dog in Frasier. He certainly gets around. Same dog was in Beginners. Hard-working dog. But cute and made me want one. He
also managed to provide Valentine with a softer side, made the character likable.
In some respects, I preferred the Scorsese film "Hugo", but The Artist definitely has its moments. Afterwards, I felt the oddest desire to rewatch my DVD of Singing in the Rain - which this film also reminded me of - in respect to the dance scenes and blond actress that Valentine is fighting with and making fun of in the beginning. Actually in way Peppy is Valentine's karma for what he did to the blond in the beginning, who he relentlessly mocked.
I give The Artist kudos for being a film about a less than likable protagonist, who had multiple layers...and ending on a high note. Showing that yes, we can handle these changes, we can rise above our own human failings, pride and envy to do so.
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Again, I can't read this because it's in my queue for next month!!
Date: 2012-07-29 02:25 am (UTC)Zuz
Re: Again, I can't read this because it's in my queue for next month!!
Date: 2012-07-29 02:39 am (UTC)I picked up all sorts of references to classic films. From Douglas Fairbanks to John Gilbert to Charlie Chaplin (the whole dog bit is Chaplin).
There's also a lot about film-making and the process. And the number of takes. Some rather funny bits.
No in many ways - from a visual perspective - it is a brilliant film.
The story is simple. But the visuals...are not.
Definitely one of the better films I've seen this year.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-29 05:19 am (UTC)