The Artist: A silent movie about a silent
movie star, George Valentin, who experiences a negative life turn. It is one he
is not prepared to deal with, nor is he able to easily recover from.
In parallel, a rising young starlet he launched soon passes
his now decelerating career only to maintain an interest in his soon shattered
fame.
What I liked about the film was the fact that because the
movie is silent and in black and white, it made me really watch the movie. Its
dramatic sparseness, in both cinematography and script mesmerized me. It drew
me in because the only dialog was old-style lines flashed on the screen. (Well,
I did a little lip reading when they made it easy.)
There was poignancy in the story as it was told so sparingly
yet richly at the same time. When you are rooting for the characters (not
always possible in many of today’s celluloid stories) you can’t wait for the
outcome.
Oh, and it won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best
Director, and Best Actor.
I give it a hearty “thumbs up.”
P.S.
A minor point about content: no profanity (unless the dog was swearing, I
really couldn’t tell), no blatant sexual scenes, and the little bit of violence
was also subdued.
