The Artist

On September 7^th at 8 p.m. in ArtStreet Studio B, we went to see The Artist, a film written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius. This movie was one of the best I have seen in such a long time. To be honest, I was expecting to be bored since it is a silent film, but I was just the opposite. The whole movie was intriguing, entertaining, well polished, and funny. The soundtrack was definitely my favorite part; since there were no words, it was easier to notice. Every song matched every scene, and even every expression, perfectly, making it similar to a musical. I would recommend this movie to a friend in a heartbeat. It is filmed as if an old-fashioned film, and illustrates the struggles that people in the film industry have as time change and technology advances. I think we all need to see a film like this every once in a while because we are bombarded with movies about the world ending or robots taking over a city, all using a ton of special effects. The Artist, on the other hand, is impeccable and simple simultaneously. The character development was most effective for me. It was easy to sympathize with the main male character, George Valentin, and to want George and Peppy Miller, the young dancer he falls in love with, to get together. Also, the dog was extremely comical and adorable, and appealed very much to the audience. The dog was George's companion throughout the film, and the crowd reacted especially strongly to it when he ended up saving George from a terrible fire. Overall, the movie was definitely effective and left an impact on me. As someone interested in film, I took special notice to the camera angles and general tone of the film. As I mentioned before, since there was no sound, it was easier to notice aspects of the movie that are easily overlooked. For example, the cameramen used the rule of thirds and formal composition in almost every scene, but it was not overkill. I loved this film and would definitely watch it again; I feel like I would notice a lot more a second time around.

This is a link to a movie preview for The Artist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK7pfLlsUQM