The Artist (2011)

Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius | 100 minutes | drama, comedy, romance | Actors: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Missi Pyle, John Goodman, Malcolm McDowell, Penelope Ann Miller, Bérénice Bejo, Joel Murray, Beth Grant, Ed Lauter, Jen Lilley, Ben Kurland, Beau Nelson, Ken Davitian, Bitsie Tulloch

At the Cannes Film Festival, everyone fell for the charm of the French silent film ‘The Artist’, and there is no reason not to do the same in the Netherlands. Michel Hazanavicius’ film is intimate, endearing, and a tribute to pre-talkie Hollywood.

At first glance, the film seems to be a tour-de-force by Jean Dujardin who plays the actor in decline, but everyone is sucked into this example of pure cinema and composer Ludovic Vource and cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman apply for Oscars to their heart’s content. both of whom manage to avoid all the clichés of the silent film and turn ‘The Artist’ into a contemporary film.

With many references to the silent and spoken classics of the early years of cinema, from ‘FW Murnau’s ‘Sunrise’ to Orson Welles’ ‘Citizen Kane’, ‘The Artist’ is a heavenly paradise for cinephiles as well as the ordinary moviegoer. will be sucked into the world Hazanavicius has created. Amid all the digital 3D violence cinema suffers from, a French black-and-white silent production is one of the best films of the year; it says something about the guts of producer Thomas Langmann, but actually about all those who participated.

Old-timers like John Goodman and James Cromwell visibly enjoy themselves, and because they pull out all the stops not to be outplayed by Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo, the talent jumps off the canvas. It is a film that could easily score high at the Oscars, for the simple reason that the film has no flaws. The way in which sound is played when the talkies make their appearance places Hazanavicius in the list of “craft directors”, the way in which he manages to deliver an emotionally strong drama to his own script with few resources makes him a new addition to the author’s cinema. ‘The Artist’ is thus several forms of great cinema in one; an unadulterated masterpiece.