2 Time Film Excess award winner:
Best Actress: Bérénice Bejo
Best Editing: Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
8 Time Film Excess nominee:
Best Film (lost to The Descendants)
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius (lost to Agnieszka Holland for In Darkness)
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin (lost to Jack Black for Bernie)
Best Actress: Bérénice Bejo (won)
Best Supporting Actor: John Goodman (lost to Michael Shannon for Boardwalk Empire S2)
Best Cinematography: Guillaume Schiffman (lost to Phedon Papamichael for The Descendants)
Best Editing: Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius (won)
Best Score: Ludovic Bource (lost to Cliff Martinez for Drive)
+ 2nd Best Movie of the Year
+ Best Los Angeles Movie of the Year
+ Best B/W Movie of the Year
+ Best Music Movie of the Year
+ Best Dog Movie of the Year
+ Best Mega-hit Movie of the Year
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| Old-timey movie romance is promised on the elegant, mostly black poster for Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist |
Hollywood silent movie star George Valentin is the grand darling of the audience of his day, when he loans some stardust to a young hopeful girl, who is then established as Tinseltown's new sensation, Peppy Miller. But when sound (in films) really conquers the town in 1929, Valentin is suddenly ditched as an old sock and vanishes for his own personal downfall.
This romantic silent comedic drama that's both silent and in B/W took the world by storm in 2011 and was beloved everywhere for its immediate and universally appealing qualities. The Artist is packed with silent and 'talkie' film references and is formed as a tribute to the fantastic, silent Hollywood-shenanigans and cinematic techniques. The film's main origin is French, which is curious, too. Hollywood-enamored Frenchmen also came up with the 'film noir' term for particular American films from the 40s and 50s, which has become integrated film vernacular.
The entire film is even shot in the old 4:3 format, and it sticks vehemently to its denial of diegetic sound, talking and color. It was shot entirely in Hollywood in splendid B/W-attuned photography by Guillaume Schiffman (The Search (2014)).
The inventiveness and enthusiasm in storytelling characterizes virtually every scene in the film; the acting between leads Jean Dujardin (Welcome to the Roses/Bienvenue chez les Rozes (2003)) and Bérénice Bejo (The Great Role/Le Grand Rôle (2004)), and supporting Americans actors such as John Goodman (Red State (2011)) and James Cromwell (Citizen Baines (2001, TV-series)) and British Malcolm McDowell (The Gardener (1998)), is infectious in its emotional intensity and serenity. SPOILER Particularly the scene in which Valentin is burning his films and is saved by his dog is moving and unforgettable for any audience-member to The Artist.
The all-around marvel that is The Artist reminds us of the construction of films, how they're made, and why we love them. It is written and directed by French master filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius (Mes Amis (1999)), whose 4th feature it is.
Related posts:
Michel Hazanavicius: Top 10: Best French movies
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 133.4 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 8.89 times its cost)
[The Artist premiered 15 May (Cannes Film Festival) and runs 100 minutes. Writing took 4 months, inspired in particular by the film Show People (1928). Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, for 35 days from October - November 2010. Dujardin and Bejo spent 5 months learning tap dancing for the film's closing scene. The film opened #28 to a 204k first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #11 and in 1,756 theaters, grossing 44.6 mil. $ (33.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 26.2 mil. $ (19.6 %) and the UK with 15.7 mil. $ (11.8 %). It was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning 5: For Best Picture, Actor (Dujardin became the first French actor to win the honor), Director, Costume Design and Score (Ludovic Bource (OSS 117: Lost in Rio/OSS 117: Rio ne Répond Plus (2009))). It lost Best Actress (Bejo) to Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady, Original Screenplay to Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris, Cinematography to Robert Richardson for Hugo, Art Direction also to Hugo and Editing to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It also won 3/6 Golden Globes, 7/12 BAFTA nominations, an AFI award, 2 prizes in Cannes, 6/10 César award nominations, was nominated for a David di Donatello award, 1/5 European Film award nominations, 4/6 Independent Spirit award nominations, was nominated for a Grammy, a National Board of Review award, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, in line with this review. Hazanavicius returned with a segment in The Players/Les Infidèles (2012) and with his own feature with The Search (2014). Dujardin returned in Touch of Evil (2011, short), Saturday Night Live (2012, TV-series) and theatrically in The Players; Bejo in Populaire (2012). The Artist is certified fresh at 95 % with an 8.82/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Artist?
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