"The Artist" (2011)

Okay, so I’m in love with a movie.

The Artist is about a famous and successful silent film actor in the 1920’s, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin). He runs into Peppy Miller (Bérénice Béjo) (literally) outside one of his film openings. She bends down and bumps into him there is a moment of charming confusion but he gracefully and quickly picks up by starting to laugh about it, so does everyone else, and she does of course. She poses a lot, at one point kissing him on the cheek. So this turns up on the front page of the newspaper the next morning, with the headline: “Who is that girl?”

This movie is charming, witty, and beautiful. Jean Dujardin is great and gives a superb and exciting performance. Bérénice Béjo sparkles as Peppy Miller, an aspiring dancer who wants to be a famous actress. Her smile always makes me beam and I came out of this movie happy for no reason.  The movie has a subtlety and charm to it.  The denouement is surprising and heartbreaking.

I saw the movie two times, and cried in the same scene both times. This scene is when George is in the hospital from a fire that he started in his apartment, and Peppy runs up desperately to the hospital room, still dressed up for the movie she was shooting. With the sympathetic doctor and nurse looking on, she notices the burnt film cannisters on the table next to him, pulls out some film and looks at the film.  This is the film he was clutching when they found him, says the doctor. This film is of Peppy and George dancing, she cries because she realizes that he really loves her.

They call it a silent film but I think without the music in this movie, it wouldn’t be as good.  The movie is a lot like “Singing in The Rain” because Jean Dujardin is inspired by Gene Kelly:  in the scene where he watches his boss, Al Zimmer’s (John Goodman) sound test with his colleague, actress (Missi Pyle) Constance. She seems to have a terrible voice.  In “Singing in the Rain”, they also have this problem because Gene’s partner actress who stars with him in all his big films sounds ridiculous out loud like Constance in “The Artist.” George laughs and says: “If that’s the future, you can have it!” 
Absolutely A+
Love,
Lucy