What's to say about The Artist? It's amazing how a black and white, silent film in 4x3 could be so popular. It does remind us how big silents were, and with a full orchestral backing and dinner dress, quite like going to the opera! I'd forgetten it's quite sad (the plot really is A Star is Born).
Scene where Dujardin and Bejo repeat takes and fall in love is utterly beautiful. Then entire sequence that reinterprets Herrmann's Vertigo score is wonderfully cinematic, leading right up to the climactic joke.
Now I'm more familiar with it I can see there are little faults - the dream scene in which we hear sound is brilliant but actually slightly confuses the film's conceit, McDowell's is a non-part, there's an error of editing in the staircase scene (which looks from the side like a set from M) for example - but who cares when dazzled with Hazanavicius' wit and skill (he's also co-editing) and Uggy's Palm Dog winning performance.
Why are there three monkeys just identifiable but out of focus behind Dujardin in his apartment? Because they return, in striking close up, in the scene where he discovers Bejo has all his belongings - a neat (symbolic) touch.
Splendid wall to wall music (most noticeable when absent) by Ludovic Bourse.
The Brits loved it more than the American Academy, giving Hazanavicius the best writing award as well as director (and Guillaume Schiffman the BAFTA for filming it) for which he credited them on their perspicacity. His drama The Search filming now. His OSS117 films with Dujardin are also very funny and well worth seeing.
Would make a great companion piece to The Aviator, which uses early colour in a very striking way.
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