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The Artist is a 2011 French romantic comedy drama film directed by Michel Hazanavicius, starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. The story takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on the relationship of an older silent film star and a rising young actress, as silent cinema falls out of fashion and is replaced by the talkies. Most of the film itself is silent, except for the non-diegetic soundtrack; it was produced in black-and-white; and in the older 4:3 aspect ratio. The film has received wide praise from critics and many accolades. Dujardin won the Best Actor Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered.

The film was nominated for six Golden Globes, the most of any 2011 film, and won three; Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Original Score, and Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Dujardin. In January 2012 the film was nominated for twelve BAFTAs, also the most of any film from 2011, and won seven, the most wins of the night, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Hazanavicius, and Best Actor for Dujardin. It is currently nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Hazanavicius, Best Actor for Dujardin and Best Supporting Actress for Bejo. In France, it was nominated for ten César Awards, winning six, including Best Film, Best Director for Hazanavicius and Best Actress for Bejo.

Plot

In 1927, silent film star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is attending the premiere of his latest film, A Russian Affair. Outside the theater, Valentin is posing for pictures for the press when a young woman, Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), admiring Valentin from a packed crowd of adoring fans, drops her autograph album. She bends down to retrieve it and is accidentally pushed into Valentin, who reacts graciously and makes a show of it for the press photographers. The next day, Peppy finds herself on the front page of Variety with the headline "Who's That Girl?" Later, Peppy auditions as a dancer and is spotted by Valentin, who insists that she have a part in Kinograph Studios' next production, despite objections from the studio boss, Al Zimmer (John Goodman). She has a part in a dance scene of A German Affair. With a little guidance from Valentin (he draws a beauty spot on her, which will eventually be her trademark, after finding her in his dressing room), Peppy slowly rises through the industry, earning more prominent starring roles.

Two years later, Zimmer announces the end of production of silent films at Kinograph Studios, but Valentin is dismissive, insisting that sound is just a fad. He decides to produce and direct his own silent film, financing it himself. The film opens on the same day as Peppy's new sound film, which also happens to coincide with the 1929 stock-market crash. Now Valentin's only chance of avoiding bankruptcy is for his film to be a hit. Unfortunately audiences flock to Peppy's film instead and Valentin is ruined. His wife, Doris (Penelope Ann Miller), kicks him out, and he moves into an apartment with his valet, Clifton (James Cromwell). Peppy goes on to become a major Hollywood star.

Later the bankrupt Valentin is forced to auction off all of his personal effects, and fires Clifton, telling him to get another job, though he is reluctant to leave Valentin despite the fact that the actor has not paid him for a year. Desperate and drunk, Valentin sets a match to his private collection of his earlier films, and is trapped in his house as the fire spreads, clutching one of the films. His dog (Uggie) attracts the help of a nearby policeman, and after being rescued Valentin is hospitalized for injuries suffered in the fire. Peppy visits the hospital and asks for him to be moved to her house to recuperate. She finds the film he rescued is the one she was first in. He awakens in a bed there, to find that Clifton is now working for Peppy.

Peppy insists that Valentin co-star in her next film, threatening to quit Kinograph Studios if Zimmer does not agree to her terms. After Valentin learns that Peppy had purchased all his auctioned effects, he returns to his burnt-out apartment. Peppy arrives, panicked, and finds that Valentin is about to attempt suicide. The two reconcile, and remembering that he is a superb dancer, Peppy persuades Zimmer to let them make a musical together.

Sound finally comes in as the film starts rolling for a dance scene with Peppy Miller and George Valentin. Once the choreography is complete, Zimmer calls "Cut! Perfect. Beautiful. Could you give me one more?" Valentin, in his only audible line, replies "With pleasure", in a strong French accent.

Cast

• Jean Dujardin as George Valentin
• Bérénice Bejo as Peppy Miller
• Uggie as Jack (the dog)
• John Goodman as Al Zimmer
• James Cromwell as Clifton
• Missi Pyle as Constance
• Penelope Ann Miller as Doris
• Malcolm McDowell as The Butler
• Bitsie Tulloch as Norma
• Beth Grant as Peppy's Maid
• Ed Lauter as Peppy's First Chauffeur
• Jen Lilley as Onlooker
• Nina Siemaszko as Admiring Woman
• Jewel Shepard as Flapper Starlet
• Basil Hoffman as Auctioneer
• Ben Kurland as Casting Assistant
• Ken Davitian as Pawnbroker

Production

Director Michel Hazanavicius had been fantasizing about making a silent film for many years, both because many filmmakers he admires emerged in the silent era, and because of the image-driven nature of the form. According to Hazanavicius his wish to make a silent film was at first not taken seriously, but after the financial success of his spy-film pastiches OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and OSS 117: Lost in Rio, producers started to express interest. The forming of the film's narrative started with Hazanavicius' desire to work again with actors Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo, Hazanivicius's wife, who had starred in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies. Hazanavicius chose the form of the melodrama, mostly because he thought many of the films from the silent era which have aged best are melodramas. He did extensive research about 1920s Hollywood, and studied silent films to find the right techniques to make the story comprehensible without having to use too many intertitles. The screenplay took four months to write.

The Artist was filmed in thirty-five days, made in the 1.33:1 screen ratio commonly used in the silent film era. Though presented in black-and-white, it was shot in color by cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman. All the technical details, including lenses, lighting and camera moves, were calibrated to get the look just right. To recreate the slightly sped-up look of 1920s silent films, the film was shot at a slightly lower frame rate of 22 fps as opposed to the standard 24 fps.

The film was produced by La Petite Reine and ARP Sélection for 13.47 million euro, including co-production support from Studio 37 and France 3 Cinéma, and pre-sales investment from Canal+ and CinéCinéma. The cast and the crew included both French and American members.

American costume designer Mark Bridges created the wardrobe for the film's cast.

Filming took place during seven weeks on location in Los Angeles. Throughout the shoot, Hazanavicius played music from classic Hollywood films while the actors performed.

Music

The film's music was composed by Ludovic Bource and produced in Belgium. It was recorded by Brussels Philharmonic and conducted by Ernst Van Tiel. Recording took place during six days in April 2011 at Flagey's Studio 4 in Brussels. The soundtrack was released on 21 October 2011 through Sony Classical Records.

Only one song (sung, with lyrics) is used in the soundtrack, "Pennies from Heaven", sung by Rose "Chi-Chi" Murphy (uncredited). This song was written in 1936 although the film is set between 1927 and 1932.

Track listing

Release

The film premiered on 15 May in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. It was initially announced as an out of competition entry, but was moved to the competition a week before the festival opened. The French regular release was on 12 October 2011 through Warner Bros. France. The Weinstein Company bought the distribution rights for the United States and Australia and Entertainment Film Distributors bought the UK distribution. The film was released in the United States on 25 November 2011.

Reception

Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 97% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 188 reviews, with an average score of 8.8/10, making the film a "Certified Fresh" on the website's rating system. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 89, based on 41 reviews, which indicates "Universal Acclaim".

Mark Adams of Screen Daily called the film "a real pleasure"; "propelled elegantly forward by delightful performances from Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo it is the most unlikely of feel-good movies." He added however: "The film does feel a little sluggish towards the end of the first third as the music is a little repetitive and the intertitles are infrequent, but Hazanavicius manages to give the film a real sense of charm and warmth, and film fans will be competing to spot visual and musical references."

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described how the film "had me on my feet cheering throughout the final credits" and stated "I can't wait to see it again". Geoffrey McNab at The Independent called the film "both a surefire crowdpleaser and a magnificent piece of film-making" in his 5 star review from the Cannes Film Festival.

Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail assessed The Artist highly, noting the film "uses old technology to dazzling effect to illustrate the insistent conquest of a new technology." Sukanya Verma for Rediff.com feels The Artist is an extremely well-researched film and is an instant classic.

David Thomson of The New Republic called The Artist "accomplished and witty entertainment" and went on to write, "Whether Hazanavicius can do more things as elegant and touching, without the gimmick of silence, remains to be seen (and heard). Meanwhile, he is to be congratulated on the grounds of pleasure alone. He may be due for much more in the way of rewards."

Kim Novak controversy

On 9 January 2012, actress Kim Novak stated that "rape" had been committed in regard to the musical score by Ludovic Bource, which incorporates a portion of Bernard Herrmann's score from Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film Vertigo (in which Novak had starred). In the article published by Variety she stated that "I feel as if my body — or at least my body of work — has been violated by the movie". "This film should've been able to stand on its own without depending on Bernard Herrmann's score from Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' to provide more drama," she continued. "It is morally wrong for the artistry of our industry to use and abuse famous pieces of work to gain attention and applause for other than what they were intended," she continued. "Shame on them!"

In response, director Michel Hazanavicius released a statement:

"The Artist was made as a love letter to cinema, and grew out of my (and all of my cast and crew’s) admiration and respect for movies throughout history. It was inspired by the work of Hitchcock, Lang, Ford, Lubitsch, Murnau and Wilder. I love Bernard Herrmann and his music has been used in many different films and I’m very pleased to have it in mine. I respect Kim Novak greatly and I’m sorry to hear she disagrees."

Hazanavicius also told CNN "I used music from another movie, but it’s not illegal. We paid for that, we asked for that and we had the permission to do it. For me there is no real controversy.... I feel sorry for her, but there’s a lot of movies with music from other movies, directors do that all the time and I’m not sure it’s a big deal."

In May 2011, when the film was first shown at the Cannes Festival, Todd McCarthy from The Hollywood Reporter already mentioned the problematic use of Herrmann's music, "Hazanavicius and Bource daringly choose to explicitly employ Bernard Herrmann’s love theme from Vertigo, which is dramatically effective in its own right but is so well known that it yanks you out of one film and places you in the mind-set of another. Surely some sort of reworked equivalent would have been a better idea."

Top ten lists

The film has appeared on the following critics' top ten lists for the best films of 2011:

Awards and nominations

At the 65th British Academy Film Awards, the film won seven awards, including Best Film, Best Actor for Dujardin, Best Original Screenplay for Hazanavicius, Cinematography for Schiffman, Costume Design for Bridges and Original Score for Ludovic Bource. At the 69th Golden Globe Awards, the film was nominated for six Golden Globes to win three of them; Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Dujardin and Best Musical Score for Bource.

At the 84th Academy Awards, The Artist has received ten nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Hazanavicius, Best Actor for Dujardin, Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score.

References

1. "How Hollywood Conquered the World (All Over Again)". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
2. "The Artist: The Weinstein Company (official website)". The Weinstein Company. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
3. "Festival de Cannes: The Artist". Cannes. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
4. "Nominees & Recipients: ACE Film Editors". ACE Film Editors. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
5. http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/
6. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_artist/
7. http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/sc-mov-1220-the-artist-20111220,0,2703056.column
8. "Silent movie The Artist leads Bafta nominations". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
9. "Martin Scorsese's Hugo leads Oscar charge with 11 nods". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
10. "Kate Winslet to receive honorary Cesar award". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
11. ^ "Interview with Michel Hazanavicius" (PDF). English press kit The Artist. Wild Bunch. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
12. "The Orange British Academy Film Awards - 2012 Red Carpet". BBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
13. Cruz, Gilbert (19 January 2011). "What Is This Artist Movie That's Winning All the Awards?". Time Magazine. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
14. Steve Rose, "Now in full retrovision", The Guardian (The Guide supplement), 7 January 2012
15. Rebecca Keegan (21 November 2011). "Buzz is growing over a silent film". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
16. Lemercier, Fabien (18 April 2011). "Media frenzy over Sarkozy's election Conquest". Cineuropa. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
17. Hart, Hugh (12 February 2011). "'Artist' costumer had designs on career as child". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
18. "Soundtrack for 'The artist' recorded at Brussels". Brussels Philharmonic. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
19. "The Artist". Amazon.com. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
20. "Horaires 2011" (PDF). festival-cannes.com (in French). Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
21. Mitchell, Wendy (4 May 2011). "Hazanavicius' The Artist moves into Competition in Cannes". Screen Daily. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
22. "The Artist". AlloCiné (in French). Tiger Global. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
23. Tartaglione, 16 May 2011. "Wild Bunch, Weinsteins confirm multi-territory deal on The Artist". Screen Daily. Retrieved 22 May 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
24. "The Artist (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
25. "The Artist". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
26. Adams, Mark (15 May 2011). "The Artist". Screen Daily. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
27. Bradshaw, Peter. "Cannes 2011: The Artist/Michael/Footnote – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
28. McNab, Geoffrey. "The Artist, Cannes Film Festival". The Independent. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
29. Groen, Rick (9 December 2011). "The Artist: Mostly mute, it speaks volumes about silent film". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
30. Sukanya Verma. "Review: The Artist is an instant classic". Rediff.com. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
31. David Thomson (5 January 2012). "Why 'The Artist' Just Might Win the Oscars". The New Republic.
32. "Artist director responds to Kim Novak Vertigo claim". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
33. ^ "'The Artist' director defends use of Hitchcock score". The Marquee Blog. CNN. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
34. "'The Artist' Director Responds to Kim Novak Slam Over 'Vertigo' Music". The Hollywood Reporter. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
35. McCarthy, Todd (15 May 2011). "The Artist: Cannes Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
36. Corliss, Richard (7 December 2011). "The Top 10 Everything of 2011 - The Artist". Time. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
37. ^ Dietz, Jason (8 December 2011). "2011 Film Critic Top Ten Lists [Updated Dec. 22]". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 23 December 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
38. Travers, Peter (8 December 2011). "10 Best Movies of 2011: The Artist". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
39. "Eleven from Eleven". BBC. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
40. "2011: The year in review". Sight & Sound. 17 December 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
41. "2011 Awards". Austin Film Critics. 17 December 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
42. "Orange BAFTA Film Awards 2012 winners list — in full". Digital Bits. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
43. "BAFTA 2012 the winners — the full list". The Guardian. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
44. "Golden Globes 2012 the winners — the full list". The Guardian. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
45. "Golden Globes 2012: The Full List". The Hollywood Reporter. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
46. "Oscar nominations 2012 - The full list". The Guardian. 24 January 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
47. "Nominees for the 84th Academy Awards". Academy Awards of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars). Retrieved 21 February 2012.

External links

• Official website
• The Artist at IMDb
• The Artist at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Artist at Metacritic
• The Artist at Box Office Mojo

• Use dmy dates from January 2012
• 2011 films
• 2010s comedy-drama films
• 2010s romance films
• Black-and-white films
• Films directed by Michel Hazanavicius
• Films set in Los Angeles, California
• Films shot in Los Angeles, California
• Films set in the 1920s
• Films set in the 1930s
• French films
• French romance films
• French silent films
• BAFTA winners (films)
• Best Film César Award winners
• Films whose director won the Best Director César Award
• Films featuring a Best Actress César Award winning performance