The Review - The Artist

Last Thursday Luke and I went to the movies, and had what I would say was probably one of the most memorable movie experiences of my life.

We saw The Artist. And if you're anything like me, you prefer to be kept a little bit up to date on which movies are currently making noise (pun intended) among the critics and movie-goers, so undoubtedly you've heard about this one and do not need any real encouragement to see it.

But if you haven't, let me enlighten you:
1. It's a French film (which generally means it's pretty good... not always, but if you've seen many French movies, you have to admit they know how to make them).
2. It's a comedy-drama.
3. It's set  in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932.
4. It's black-and-white.
5. It's silent.

Yes, that's right - it's a modern black-and-white silent movie. To be honest, at first I was a bit skeptical. I saw the trailer and made appreciative "oooo" sounds, but in the back of my mind, I was thinking: Okay, not talking in a trailer isn't that unusual, but a whole movie with no talking? That might be a bit much. Well, let me expel all your fears, because it was one of the most entertaining and engaging movies I've seen in a long time.

I'd have to wear two hats so I could take one off to actor Jean Dujardin, who played the main character, and the other to Berenice Bejo, who played opposite him.

The music by Ludovic Bource is also wonderful, and rightly won Best Original Score at the Golden Globes recently. Anyway, enough gushing from me.

The movie's storyline is set around the cross-over between silent movies and "the talkies", as they were called. Think Singing in the Rain, but the other way round. I loved the fact that they did the old style credits at the start of the movie, and had a silent film inside a silent film. You are completely transported into this world. At the beginning, when you see an audience break out into applause, you kind of think: Hmmm... that's strange, there's no sound of clapping. But at the end of the movie, when there are a total of about 3 spoken lines (all the previous lines are on cue cards), it seems really strange - you are just so used to these characters not audibly talking. It was also a really unique cinema experience; you were so much more aware of the other audience members and their reactions. So if you have the opportunity to see it at the cinema, I'd definitely recommend it.

To summarise: I loved it. Now for some photos, and I'll also add a trailer at the end.

 

Trailer: 

 

So what are you waiting for? Go see it!

Until next time :)