Movie: The Artist
Sunday 22 January 2012 at 5:28 pm. Used tags: movie
Haruko and I saw The Artist yesterday.The move plot is not extraordinary, but the telling of the story is what makes is excellent. A star of the silent film, George Valentin, refuses to do talkies, but a starlet he help goes on to become a big star. He goes down into drink and deterioration, selling everything, but she looks out for him. In his pride, he refuses her help, but eventually acquiesces and goes on to make a movie with her.
The film is entirely in black and white, and his no dialog except for the last 30 seconds, when it shows a take of the talkie the stars are putting together. Expression and movement were the only way to tell the story, and the actors and actresses did a really good job.
The actress, who was French, said that she had to learn to act like an American actress - be louder, talk with her hands, occupy more space. Gloria Swanson was her model.
Douglas Fairbanks, whose popularity declined as talkies came out, was the model for Valentin. The directory used some subtle techniques to portray Valentin's decline, dressing him in suits that were a little too big, and making him wear heavy boots.
Interestingly, they shot the film on color stock because black and white film was not grainy enough.
Although the film is Fench, they shot in Hollywood for realistic locations. Sites included various theaters around town where silent films premiered, and Mary Pickford's residence as the startlet's house.
I recommend seeing it.
