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Craig Stevens Reviews... The Artist

2012 in cinema is going to be potentially spectacular as ‘Spiderman’ gets a reboot a mere five years after the last one, Batman gets a conclusion with ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and we finally get to see what all the teasing has been about with ‘The Avengers’ finally hitting the big screen this year.

But January is all about awards movies, anything that's nominated for the forthcoming Oscars, Baftas and Golden Globes needs to get an airing. George Clooney's ‘The Descendants’ is finally arriving later this month, Meryl Streep is almost dead cert for a 3rd Academy award for her portrayal as former Prime Minister Margret Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady’, but one film that's guaranteed to be holding a statue is ‘The Artist’.

The phrase "they don't make em like they used to" is one that can't be used for ‘The Artist’ because that's exactly how it's made. In black and white and silent. Well more speechless than silent as it does have the odd word or two but mainly has a beautiful orchestral score that more than makes up for the lack of dialogue.

Written, directed and edited by the Frenchman Michel Hazanavicius ‘The Artist’ is the story of Hollywood back in 1926 where established silent movie star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) meets the young pretty aspiring actress and devoted fan Poppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) and gives her her big break.

As aging George finds his star is fading, hers begins to glow and with the introduction of new technology, talking in films, George finds it hard to accept and his journey of self destruction begins.

It's a story we've all seen before but not in this way, it's a parody, a homage to the golden age of cinema. It's got drama, romance and comedy with great performances from everyone and particular credit should go to George's dog too. You'll know what I mean when you see it.

It's not often the word genius is used and is truly deserved but this is one of those times. I realize that this film isn't going to inspire everyone, its not a big budget CGI adventure with a well known cast that saves the planet from an alien invasion but it is a film that you will be hearing a lot about over the coming weeks and months. And when it takes all the awards, and it will, you may just decide you should see what all the fuss is about. I promise you if you can just get yourself into a cinema and persuade yourself not to buy another ticket for ‘MI 4’, then give ‘The Artist’ a try and you'll be speechless. If you'll excuse the pun.

Interestingly the cinematographer used a color film stock but added filters to the camera to create the black and white look without taking away and depth and feel from the movie.