Thursday, May 3, 2012

Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist (2011)



The Artist was shot on color film stock and then drained of the color digitally. I assume that this gave them precise control over the lights and the darks, which were beautiful and rich.

The actors that they chose filled their roles brillantly. If I didn't know that this was filmed present-day, I might assume that it was from the early 1900's. They got the set and costumes right on, and the overall aesthetic of the film felt accurate to the time period that they were going for.

I enjoyed the use of sound throughout the film. I went into the theater thinking it was entirely silent, but was pleasanly surprised by the sparse use of sound. When sound is only used in moderation, is really is accentuated. In addition to the sparsely-interwoven sounds, there were several instances in which the viewer was presented with text to accompany what was going on. I thought that these were well placed and succeeded in telling the story with very minimal verbal cues.

I liked the concept of making a film about making films. It gave an interesting degree of separation from the footage of Peppy and the Artist acting together. In a way, it gave me the feeling that I was more of a personal friend of theirs, watching them go through this time in their lives.

The film was very well edited. I especially appreciated the cuts towards the end where the car was driving to The Artist's house and the shots kept cutting back and forth between him and Peppy. The pacing was just right- it created the perfect amount of suspense for the scene.

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