The Artist

It’s rather hard to review a film with a sense of objectivism when already it’s tipped for Oscar glory (a Best Picture nomination at the very least seems a shoo-in). No matter what I say, people seem to have already made up their minds that The Artist is a minor masterpiece, a breath of fresh air in a cinematic era that has become clogged with unnecessary superheroes, pointless pirates and transforming robots. And it gives me great pleasure to say that I agree with them; The Artist really is what it’s being touted as – a crowd-pleasing, unabashed barrel of fun coated in a silver glitter sheen that should bring a tear to the eye of even the hardiest cinemagoer.

At the heart of this black and white, silent love story lies Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) and George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), two actors in the ascendance and descent respectively. As Peppy – with a little beauty treatment from George – makes her acting presence felt in the new wave of ‘talking pictures’, George finds himself stubbornly refusing to play ball with the studio execs, ending up down on his luck and struggling to wave the flag solo for silent cinema. But with Uggie, his loyal Jack Russell, on standby to pull him out of the doldrums, all is not lost… or is it? This is a film that toys with the emotions to such an extent that you’re genuinely never sure where things could end up, no matter how many narrative conventions you feel the film will surely stick to.

Both the leads are routinely superb, as are the supporting cast – John Goodman and James Cromwell are note-perfect throughout as the studio boss and Valentin’s chauffeur. Also, it has to be said that the film must have been somewhat of a challenge for all involved, when you consider how rigidly it sticks to its silent conventions. With intertitles and a full orchestral score, it’s a film that could have so easily descended into a technical exercise, losing most of its charm in the process. But director Michel Hazanavicius manages to keep things on track right to the very end, never losing sight of what’s important – strong leads you genuinely care about, and a dog that should be up for Best Supporting Actor if there’s any justice in the world.

If ever there was a film of 2012 that deserves to be seen at the cinema – nay, in a theatre – it’s The Artist. And yes I get my nerd hat out, one where it can be shown properly masked to its true aspect ratio of 1.38:1; our Cinema 1 should do the trick.