by Chris Marshall:
I think the symmetry between the first and most recent Best
Picture winners is absolutely perfect. Way back in 1927, Wings became the first film to win the top award at the Oscars, and
as it turned out, it was the only silent picture to ever win… until this year.
Yes, in some sense, The
Artist is not a true silent film. There are moments of sound and even color
in the movie, but I have to imagine it’s the closest we’ll ever get to it
again. And in another fitting connection, The
Artist was set in 1927, the year Wings came out. I know this symmetry only exists because I happened to choose to
do The Oscar Project this year, but it almost seems pre-ordained.
I do have to admit that I prefer this year’s winner to the
first one, as much as I’ve defended the quality of some (thought definitely not
all) of those early winners. But that’s mostly because The Artist is a very good film, finely crafted and well-acted. It
didn’t win because it was a gimmick. I wouldn’t say it was the best movie of
2011—that title goes to Drive, based
on what I’ve seen from last year—but it was certainly one of the best.
It’s very strange to me that some people argued that The Artist would win because it was the “safe”
pick. I have no idea how, in 2011, a silent, black-and-white movie that was
financed at least in part by a French studio qualifies as safe. Sure, it’s a
Rich People Problems movie and a period piece, but with the exception of The King’s Speech last year, even that’s
become a rarity the past decade or so.
A certain co-owner of this blog often argues that the acting
in older movies was fundamentally worse than it is today, since it focused less
on realistic behavior and more on over-exaggerated gestures and facial
expressions. But that’s really just a byproduct of not being able to talk. I
would argue that, like writing metered verse, it requires at least an equal
amount, if not more, talent to perfect. Without their voices to express
emotions, silent actors had to carry everything on their visage.
And this was the crux of the problem for Jean Dujardin’s
character, George Valentin, in The Artist.
With his mischievous smile and dashing good looks, he was born to be a silent
star. But his heavy French accent makes him a liability when talkies become
big. His young protégé Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), on the other hand, becomes
an instant sensation.
Meanwhile, Valentin fights a losing battle trying to keep
his silent career afloat. He soon finds himself bankrupt and even unable to pay
his loyal assistant, Clifton (James Cromwell). I spent the entire movie trying
to figure out who Cromwell reminds me of, and I wonder if that has a lot to do
with his appeal. He looks the kind of guy anybody might know and love. Without
saying a word, he comes across as immensely likeable, and it’s easy to
understand why Valentin would keep him around.
 |
| Uggie won for Best Supporting Doggie. |
A surprisingly svelte John Goodman appears as a studio
executive, and he also seems like he was born to be a silent star. But the real
star of the movie, in my estimation, was Uggie the Dog. Now that he’s retired
and I won’t take him away from any film roles, I’m really tempted to steal him.
Like I mentioned earlier, there are a couple of scenes that
prevent this from being a “true” silent movie, but they’re so expertly done.
When Valentin finally realizes that talkies are the way of the future, he
dreams that he is sitting in front of his mirror, and suddenly he (and we, the
audience) hear everything. Uggie is barking. Girls are laughing outside. The
items at his desk make noises. He is unable to make any sound himself, though. He’s
trapped in silence while the world moves on without him. It’s a brilliant
symbolic scene, and it’s a perfect metaphor for the situation he finds himself
in.
I imagine the very fact that The Artist is silent will stop a lot of people from watching it,
and that’s too bad. It really is a fine film, and it deserves to be seen, even
if it is just some artsy French thing.
After three months, my journey is complete. I watched Wings on April 1. The first Oscar
Project post went up on April 23, and now, exactly three months later, it has
come to an end. It’s been a lot of fun—most of the time, at least—but all good things
must end. I won’t miss the stress of “having” to meet a daily deadline, but it’ll
be weird no longer having this goal to achieve.
I’m going to spend the next few days writing recap posts,
starting with a regular “interlude” post about the last decade (well, 12 years
in this case), and then I’ll rank them all in order from favorite to least
favorite, which may very well turn out to be the most difficult task of the
whole project. After that, I’ll take a break for about a week before returning
with regular posts, which will mostly consist of my Director/Genre/Franchise of
the Week series.
Thanks for reading, everybody. I hope you’ll stay on board
for the next set of adventures on Hashtag World.
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