Oscar Contenders: The Artist

The lead up to this film was monumental for me. I intensely followed Cannes coverage in May and saw the overwhelming support for this movie which had previously seemed oddly placed in the competition. It quickly became a crowd favorite at many different festivals and for the next six months, I hear the praises for this film. I got the chance to see it at the European Union Film Festival in Ottawa which is apparently something that happens each year. For a film with so much hype, I was worried if it was going to hold up especially after other hyped films did not(more on those in the future). Luckily, it held up wonderfully.

Before I get ahead of myself, I'll briefly tell you what this movie's all about in case you haven't yet heard. The Artist is the tale of a silent movie star and the trouble he has adapting to the "talkies" and how this affects his sense of self. Sounds a bit like Singin' in the Rain or Sunset Boulevard, right? Well, the reason this film has so much attention is because other than a few lines at the very end of the film, the movie is without dialogue. A silent film about silent films. It's also gaining a lot of attention because it's wonderful. In a year that seems filled with tributes to the magic of Old Hollywood, this one stands out not only for the gimmick but also for the great performances from both Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, both of whom could be heading towards nominations at the Oscars. It's wonderfully directed and lovingly pays tribute to this Hollywood of yesteryear.

The Oscar season gets labelled as a time for pretentious, difficult, boring and serious movies, however, The Artist is none of those which might be the overall downfall of the film. Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful but the plot is simplistic, the pleasures are all shallow and the filmmaking holds nothing particularly groundbreaking aside from it being a silent film released in 2011. So, if you like your Oscar movies to be serious and challenging, this is not the movie for you. However, if you're looking for a fun movie that will remind you or introduce you to the magic of silent cinema, then this is the perfect movie for you. Just because the movie is from France and is silent doesn't make it an art film. It's a fairly mainstream film whose success can only be held back by an audience who refuses to open their mind to a silent film.