The Artist

Lots of people, friends and family, have fallen in love with "The Artist". There's a lot to fall in love with here. It's one of the best films of this year though a Facebook friend or two would like to expand the time line to the best of the decade. Not too sure about that, but this is certainly a cinematic wonder to behold.
I was afraid at first that this was going to be a gimmick----oh, for those of you living under the proverbial cinematic rock, "The Artist" is a silent movie (almost) set in the silent movie era, about people who make silent movies. And of course it's about the advent of talking pictures. In unskilled hands it could make for some awful filmmaking. Gratefully, no unskilled hands here.
The wonderful thing about the silent era was that it fostered, well, really invented a visual language for cinema. Story had to be conveyed through movement, action, expression, angle, etc. mit out sound as the Germans used to say. (By the way, for all my industry friends that's where the phrase M.O.S. comes from). The silent era was the era of story told through motion and picture---motion pictures.
History lesson done.
Jean Dujardin plays George Valentin, a suave and charismatic silent film star. With a cute sidekick dog, fan adoration, and a big house with a life size portrait of himself, he would seem to have it all. Actually he does have it all. What he can't see (or hear) is the advent of the talking picture that's about to send his career in a downward spiral.
A young actress with star-making potential and a name to match,
Peppy Miller, (played sweetly by Berenice Bejo) has a flirtation with George and a love interest is born. But Peppy is the future and George, well, not so much. His inevitable spiral is where the story bogs down a little. It's pretty predictable all things considered and moves forward to a resolution as old as the hills. If this movie was about the plotline, we'd have trouble.
"The Artist" isn't about the destination, it's about the journey. And this journey is often breathtakingly original. As Peppy pines for George in his dressing room, she sees his coat and hat on a rack and slips her arm into the sleeve, caressing her own body as if it were George. It's intimate and beautiful. And that's just a taste. The film is by turns delightful, original, charming, honest and surprising in execution if not in storyline. "The Artist" is a whimsical and wonderful journey on a familiar road. Best of the year? Quite possibly. Best of the decade? Ummm.... there's a lot of room for debate.