The Artist

At the 2020 Academy Awards, Parasite became the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture. It deserved it. Go watch Parasite. The accolade, however, was pretty semantic because it wasn't actually the first foreign film to win Best Picture. That accolade was taken eight years before by the terribly undeserving The Artist. The loophole being that The Artist though being a French Production, didn't strictly have a 'language'... until the final scene at least and that was in English.

Admittedly, the 2012 Academy Awards saw a particularly weak crop of nominees. The nominees for best picture included some low grade dismissible entries from great directors with Spielberg's War Horse, Scorcesse's Hugo and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. There were some forgettable movies like The Descendants, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. There was the extremely pretentious and incredibly far up its own arse, The Tree Of Life. Then there was The Help, which, post-Black Lives Matter, has been ripped apart by both critics and it's own cast: https://www.insider.com/the-help-is-a-terrible-movie-to-watch-about-racism-2020-6.

For me, among the given nominees Moneyball was the best. It's got a razor sharp script by one of the smartest screenwriters, Aaron Sorkin. It's got a stellar performance by Brad Pitt, who should have won his Oscar for that role, and some great supporting performances including Jonah Hill and Chris Pratt. Even given the weak competition, I can't really understand how The Artist won.

Forced to guess, I'd say the French had Jeffrey Epstein's harddrive or something because somehow the Academy thought it worthy of not only Best Picture, but also Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Score and Best Costume Design. All, I would argue, completely undeserving.

If this is anyone's introduction to Silent Film, then it's a real pity. Mine was watching The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), high in a cinema whist a live band played an accompanying score they had written for the film. That film is some mental German Expressionism - and creepy AF when you're very high. The following year, I saw The Phantom of the Opera (1925) this time with live piano accompaniment. Yes, high. The experience of silent film with live accompaniment is excellent. There's a sense of the musicians reacting to the film. If you ever get the opportunity I'd highly recommend it.

I've since only watched a few other Silent films: a couple of Charlie Chaplin's and Buster Keaton's, most notably City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936) and The General (1926), which are all excellent comedies; a fantastic thriller by Fritz Lang, M (1931) and the truly eerie Vampyr (1932). There's something about the medium of silent film that lends itself to Comedies and Horrors particularly well. Any of these would make a fantastic introduction to Silent Film. The Artist does not.

You'll notice I'm recommending a lot of other films rather than talking about The Artist and I think that's largely because I really don't have a lot to say about this film. It's not that I dislike the film. It's fine. There are couple of scenes that work pretty well. I like the dream where the protagonist can hear everything around him but can't make a sound with his voice. That scene felt like it could have been from a Felini movie like 8½ (1963) but that movie did it better. I also liked the scene where the dog rushes to fetch help when his master is stuck in a fire, but that could have been from any number of other movies like Lassie or Benji, and they probably did it better. I also like the setting in Hollywood as it shifts from Silent to Talkies - with all the tap-dancing it was a lot like Singin' in The Rain (1952), which certainly did the setting and dancing a whole lot better. The plot of a girl who makes it big after being given a step up by an established star only to leave said star in the dust is really just the plot of a Star is Born, which told the story better. Again it's not that I dislike the film. It's fine. It's just all been done better elsewhere.

Jean Dujardin is admirable enough in the lead role but he's not a good a dancer as Gene Kelly, and not as charming as Clark Gable, though he seems to be forged in the image of those two greats. For a better Jean Dujardin performance I strongly recommend you watch Deerskin (2019) where he stars as a man who becomes so obsessed with his recently purchased Deerskin jacket that he sets out on a mission to rid the world of all other jackets at any cost. Yes, you read that correctly.

The score is honestly pretty weak until close to the end of the movie where the film borrows track from Bernard Herman's legendary score for Vertigo (1958). I genuinely think the Academy was mistaken when they gave this movie best original score in 2012, and I know I'm not alone in wondering whether lots of Academy voters were confused as to what 'Best Original Score' actually means or just mistook the Vertigo track as part of the original score.

I do admire the goal though. People don't often watch silent films these days and if this film has done anything to encourage anyone to seek out other silent films, I'd say it was worth it.

The Dog's good too.

3 good boys out of 5