The Artist (2011)

From the film, The Artist by Michel Hazanavicius, 2011, I expected the silent film to be something a bit different from what I am used to seeing but a bit less intriguing due to the fact that it is silent with no diegetic sound. I also expected the film to be a bit shorter because it was missing such a huge part of films, which is the sound in the movie. Michel Hazanavicius's "The Artist" (2011) is a film that pays tribute to the great era of silent cinema while at the same time blending elements of comedy, romance, and drama. The movie is set against the backdrop of Hollywood in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the film takes the audience on a long and detailed journey through the transition from silent films to films with diegetic sound within them. The main focus point in the movie is the compelling story of George Valentin, a silent film star played by Jean Dujardin, whose career takes a downturn with the invention of sound in cinema. Dujardin delivers a realistic performance, embodying the charisma and charm of a past era. His expressive face and physicality illustrate the whole story, as he seamlessly transitions from the height of success to the depths of despair. In my opinion, this plot did make sense to me and was easy enough to follow. But for it to be easy to follow you must always pay attention to the whole movie as there is no talking, meaning you cannot focus on anything else for a split second or you will miss a major part of the story. For my opinion on the movie, it was alright, not amazing, but it was also not bad. I think this is due to the film being boring to me as there was not any talking (or at least until the end) and there was not any colour either which plays a big part in films for myself too. A scene that I remember in particular is the one near the end when Peppy is rushing to get to the much-depressed George Valentin who feels there is nothing left in life for him after hitting the biggest ever low in his life. This due to the urgent nature of this scene when Peppy goes to save George’s life, this scene is helped by the editing and music choice. This scene is especially good when George holds a gun to his head and the word BANG! Pops up on the screen which makes you think that he has pulled the trigger but in reality, it was just Peppy crashing her car. I would recommend this film to older people or people younger than the older people who want to experience and learn about colourless, silent films.