When I was 16, cable TV made its debut in my town. Cartoon Network aired all day after which, at exactly 20:00, it turned itself into TNT and the old Hollywood started to famously influence my teenage days. Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart...you name it. Black and white, musicals, film noirs, Lana Turner romances - oh, those were the days: class, style, elegance.One tends to forget all of this when exposed to years of Hollywood's 21st century crap.
When I first heard of The Artist, I was overwhelmed even though convinced that not many people would be watching it: no colour, no action, no dialogue, for god's sake! You need to be a movie aficionado (or just French :)) to willingly enter the movie theatre and buy a ticket, as evidenced in today's news - the US audience, somewhere, asked for a refund, not knowing that the movie is silent.
But, then again, US audience tends to skip a movie with subtitles - so much for tolerance and multiculturalism.
Anyhow, I absolutely adored it. You get to see a couple of famous faces, John Goodman, Malcolm McDowell (a cameo, actually), James Cromwell and when's the last time we saw Penelope Ann Miller, huh?, but the whole movie is, accordingly, Jean Dujardin's.
I never heard of Jean before and even though he utters only 2 words at the end of a movie, I am a full-pledged fan already. His character's combination of Errol Flynn and Gene Kelly was spotless. And that dog (I belive it's Jack Russell terrier) needs all the love he can get! I would nominate him, right now, for an Oscar in a supporting role.
And talking of Oscars, I have no doubt that The Artist will get a nod for the lead actor, best movie, music, maybe even lead actress...and just like last year, when everybody knew Colin Firth would win, this year it's going to be Jean Dujardin's.
8.5 out of 10.
