THE ARTIST (2011) - ENGLISH

A silent spectacle. One of the toughest films in recent times.

Right from the first frame, it engrossed me, pulled me into it, made me laugh at it and also made me think at times, without even a word being uttered on screen. Sheer beauty and exquisitely performed by the artists. It's a highly appreciable thing that audiences have embraced this film but what is more appreciable is the fact that there are people who would still love to make such movies. It's the same wine in new bottle, just that it caters to tast of the new audience which is 'said to be intelligent'.

A simple conflict of whether an artist likes sound in movies or not, is drawn to magnanimous proportions and one scene where the glass sound, the laughs of girls come along portray how much he is stuck and in love with silence. He is overtly adamant about silent films than being passionate about them. He hates the sound so much that he goes to even end his life, on hearing people speak. Such a character is tough to portray and Jean Dujardin does emote exceptionally well. 

The dog named Uggy who is the hero and as written in the film, "He owes his life to the dog" has done a remarkably good job. The art direction was outstanding and so was the choreography. The music complemented each scene well whether it is the initial part of cinema where he performs for audiences, the comic sequences or the dramatic part. Also, the screenplay just flew. 

Having said all the above, there are a few dislikes of which few are 

1) This film has a completely predictable storyline, in fact me and my friend were talking to each other what would happen next and it turned out to be same

2) The story in itself is too very common and so is the treatment

3) The actress Berenice Bejo was good at places and at few times was just awkward, example the way she speaks to George Valentin on the stairs was like making a spoof of the old silent films.

4) Oh yes, its just too melodramatic, the final climax where she rushes in car as if she would definitely do an accident was uncalled for.

So going out with 3/5. Having said about the flaws, I would still say it's a must watch for those who love cinema for the way cinema is. I loved it, coz I go for cinema to be taken into it and pulls me into a path that it builds for me, and this movie did that in every sense to me. This is for sure, is the best actor movie I saw in recent times.