The Artist
Out with the old, in with the new
Release Date: 2011
Rating: ****
Erin Peters April 27, 2012

Michael Hazanavicius's "The Artist" is a black and white silent film set in 1927 Los Angelos, California in the hills of Hollywoodland. The romantic comedy drama stars french actor Jean Dujardin as Hollywood heartthrob George Valentin and Argentine-french actress Berenice Bejo as aspiring actress Peppy Miller who has a fascination for Valentin.

The "Artist" tells a story of the movie industries evolution away from the silent movie era.  In the late 1920's George Valentin is the star of big screen silent films.  Outside of his movie premiere one night Valentin is bumped into by a young woman in the crowd, Peppy Miller.  Reluctantly for Peppy the crowd is surrounded by photographers who take a picture of her planting a kiss on her Hollywood obsession, George Valentin.  Instantly the newspapers flourish with headlines demanding, "Who's that girl?"  Peppy Miller is instantly inspired by her hero to follow his path.  She auditions as an extra in a film and gets the part as a dancer.  While rehearsing for her part George Valentin shows up at the same studio.  Once again the two encounter one another and instant sparks fly.  Valentin takes a fancy for Peppy Miller and in a scene after filming he fills in a beauty mark on her face which helps launches her career.  However, George Valentin struggles to move forward with the industries innovation in talking films and  the two lovers are soon separated as George's career fades and hers rises.  Peppy Miller becomes the new face of talking films but never forgets where she started and always holds an appreciation for all that George has done for her.  Through the ups and downs of George's career and with the hit of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 Peppy Miller always seems to lovingly have his back whether he knows it or not.  No matter the distance and no matter how glamorous and successful Peppy has become she has always held a place in her heart for George Valentin.  Though the film is in black and white and is silent it is clear to the audience the deeper meaning of the story line.

One aspect of film making is film score, more particularly known as background music.  A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film.  Each piece of music is strategically composed  to enhance the dramatic and emotional impact of a scene.  Film scores were generally used in movies of the silent-era but have been used in current films today with sound such as "The Social Network".  Although "The Social Network" is not a silent film it contains  numerous scenes with strong emotion that lack speaking but instead contain music.  The music against the scene provides the viewer with a deeper understanding to what is taking place in the scene.  Likewise "The Artist" has many different scenes of which without music the audience would have a hard time figuring out what drama and emotions the scene is trying to display.  When the actors display silent smiles and giggles the background music is happy and bubbly with implies to viewers that it is a joyfulness moment.  An example of film score in "The Artist" is when Peppy Miller plays the role of George Valentin's dance partner in one of his films.  It is relevant to the viewer that the two characters are flirting and displaying an attraction to one another while they silently smile and giggle against a happy orchestrate.  It almost memories the audience into a trance of happiness while they gaze upon George and Peppy sharing this stunning moment together.

Another aspect of film making is film style.  The film style of "The Artist" is monochrome, meaning it is filmed in only one hue- black and white.  The film is set in the late 1920's when every film lacked color.  However, the movie was produced in 2011 which means it had the potential to be in color.  The lack of color in "The Artist" creates a more artistic and stylized  feel to the movie.  Without the color it is easier for the audience to focus in more on the movie itself.  When I was viewing the movie I was trying to imagine how certain scenes would be if they were in color and I couldn't quite picture it.  As a viewer the dullness to the movie had me more focused on the essence rather than the details.  Another example of a movie containing a monochrome style is "The Wizard of Oz".  It differs from "The Artist" in that after the climax the film turns into color but also gives the audience the chance to focus on the essence of the film in black and white while leading up to the turning point.

As soon as I found out I had to go see a silent let alone black and white film on my Thursday night I was mortified.  I had seen and enjoyed black and white films before but never a silent film.  I couldn't even comprehend how awkward it would be sitting in a silent theater for two hours hearing nothing but people coughing and rumbling their hands through a box or popcorn.  I am going to admit that I could not have been any more wrong.  Yes, it was simply a silent movie about a silent movie but it had such a heavy romance behind it.  I really enjoyed the use of background music, it was brilliant in capturing an affect on myself and the rest of the audience.  It is obvious that when a movie is silent producers put much more time and effort to compose the perfect sequence of sounds to replace the lack of talking.  The film was an inspiration to me and is valuable to all ages and any person of any speaking language.  The artist is simply universal!  It is a must see.