Expressions that matter. Review on The Artist Movie

“And the Oscar goes to…” Few days back, we heard this line and then we saw the crew going up the stage along with the dog-wonder as well. Yesterday I got the privilege to see the movie which grabbed two prestigious Oscars for best direction and the best picture defeating the likes of Moneyball and Hugo. All it did without uttering a single word. Silence does such tricks sometimes, and the barriers of language seem ever so small then.

To produce and direct a movie which is devoid of any color and sound is a challenge. In the world where we are mesmerized by special effects of horde of movies from Transformers, terminators to Hugo, and Kung-fu Panda from wonderful places like Pandora and Sparta, reviving the age old characters of late twenties is real crazy indeed. Michel Hazanavicius-the director I didn’t know till this-did wonders and bagged 5 academy awards while doing it.

I have not seen films by Charlie Chaplin, for that matter I have not even seen a single silent film till date. When I entered the theater, it was more of a curiosity of what exactly I’d get to see, and how I would perceive it. When the lights went out and it started with what could be described as a real old template for names it made me even more curious. The movie starts in 1927 and concludes around 1932. It captures the essence of the times when the silent film industry slowly heard the cries of voice and started giving out films which had inherent sound line.

The movie follows the life of a silent film superstar George Valentin, and his struggle to adapt with the changes of the entertainment industry. I don’t know why the movie is labeled as comedy though. Apart from a few jokes here and there, the overall air is of a well-executed drama. Along with our superstar, the movie also paints the graph of an upcoming voice artist Peppy Miller, one who is given a head start by George. When the industry slowly accepts and adapts to this change, the protagonist finds it really hard to go along. This struggle has been portrayed in a wonderful way and without words the emotions of both leads reach the audience perfectly.

Now that I have seen this film I can say, how tough it is to enact a silent film. This is where expressions come into play. The only medium the actors have is their face. With the exception of few slates with words shown to the spectators, all responsibility of conveying the true sense of a scene lies only on the body language and expressions of the actors. I was not surprised when George claimed that he is not an actor but an artist. These days rarely you see a film which focusses on people, giving them more sense of responsibility to reach out to the people watching them. These days we seem to breed puppets assisted heavily by the background score, the visual effects, fast cars, guns and what not. Truly sending across the meaning of the scene or an emotion is a herculean task. It’s hard to find a movie that dampens the edge of your eyelid without your knowledge. Actually even this movie does not attempt to do that, but along with presenting the story in a comical way, it does emphasize on the true value of acting. This fabulous change of expressions got Jean Dujardin an Oscar and that is not by fluke.

When we think of the other important Oscar, which is awarded for best direction, we ask what is so special in the silent film. Interestingly the time span which he chooses for his story is when the voice films are making their way with a certain bang into a soundless world. The director uses his presence of varied eras very beautifully. He uses in scenes which interest you even confuse you at times and yet he puts his point across subtly and perfectly. It’s very wise to choose such time frame and such context of the story, as he gets to experiment with all the basic factors which comprise of the movie. The Oscar there is also perfectly awarded.

Apart from giving me a treat of 1.5 hours, this movie also made me curious about the films of that age. Now when I get some silent time for myself, I’d surely give a try to few more. And to quote George-which are his only two words in the whole movie-“With Pleasure”.