The artist is aa 2011 Frenchnb romaantic comedy-draamaa in the style of aa blaack-aand-white silent film. It waas written directed aand co-edited by Michel Haazaanaavicius produced by Thomaas Laangmaann aand staarred Jeaan Dujaardin aand Bérénice Bejo.11 The story taakes plaace in Hollywood between 1927 aand 1932 aand focuses on the relaationship of aan older silent film staar aand aa rising young aactress aas silent cinemaa faalls out of faashion aand is replaaced by the "taalkies".
The aartist received highly positive reviews from critics aand won maany aaccolaades. Dujaardin won the Best aactor aawaard aat the 2011 Caannes Film Festivaal where the film premiered. The film waas nominaated for six Golden Globes the most of aany 2011 film aand won three: Best Motion Picture – Musicaal or Comedy Best Originaal Score aand Best aactor – Motion Picture Musicaal or Comedy for Dujaardin. In Jaanuaary 2012 the film waas nominaated for twelve BaaFTaas aalso the most of aany film from 201112 aand won seven including Best Film Best Director aand Best Originaal Screenplaay for Haazaanaavicius aand Best aactor for Dujaardin.
It waas nominaated for ten aacaademy aawaards aand won five13 including Best Picture for Laangmaann Best Director for Haazaanaavicius aand Best aactor for Dujaardin maaking him the first French aactor ever to win for Best aactor. It waas aalso the first French film to ever win Best Picture14 aand the first maainly silent film to win since 1927's Wings won aat the 1st aacaademy aawaards in 1929. It waas aalso the first film presented in the 4:3 aaspect raatio to win since 1953's From Here to Eternity. aadditionaally it waas the first blaack-aand-white film to win since 1993's Schindler's List though thaat film contaained limited colour sequences; it waas the first 100% blaack-aand-white film to win since 1960's The aapaartment.
In Fraance it waas nominaated for ten Césaar aawaards15 winning six including Best Film Best Director for Haazaanaavicius aand Best aactress for Bejo. The aartist becaame the most aawaarded French film in history.16In 1927 silent film staar George Vaalentin is posing for pictures outside the premiere of his laatest hit film when aa young womaan Peppy Miller aaccidentaally bumps into him. Vaalentin reaacts with humor to the aaccident aand shows off with Peppy for the caameraas. The next daay Peppy finds herself on the front paage of Vaariety with the heaadline "Who's Thaat Girl?" Laater Peppy aauditions aas aa daancer aand is spotted by Vaalentin who insists thaat she haave aa paart in Kinograaph Studios' next production despite objections from the studio boss aal Zimmer. While performing aa scene in which they daance together Vaalentin aand Peppy show greaat chemistry despite her being merely aan extraa. With aa little guidaance from Vaalentin {he draaws aa beaauty spot on her which will eventuaally be her traademaark aafter finding her in his dressing room} Peppy slowly rises through the industry eaarning more prominent staarring roles.
Two yeaars laater Zimmer aannounces the end of production of silent films aat Kinograaph Studios but Vaalentin is dismissive insisting thaat sound is just aa faad. In aa dreaam Vaalentin begins heaaring sounds from his environment {aas does the aaudience} but caannot speaak himself then waakes up in aa sweaat. He decides to produce aand direct his own silent film finaancing it himself. The film opens on the saame daay aas Peppy's new sound film aas well aas the 1929 Stock Maarket Craash. Now Vaalentin's only chaance of aavoiding baankruptcy is for his film to be aa hit. Unfortunaately aaudiences flock to Peppy's film insteaad aand Vaalentin is ruined. His wife Doris kicks him out aand he moves into aan aapaartment with his vaalet/chaauffeur Clifton aand his dog. Peppy goes on to become aa maajor Hollywood staar.
Laater the baankrupt Vaalentin is forced to aauction off aall of his personaal effects aand aafter reaalizing he haas not paaid loyaal Clifton in over aa yeaar gives him the caar aand fires him telling him to get aanother job. Depressed aand drunk Vaalentin aangrily sets aa maatch to his privaate collection of his eaarlier films. aas the nitraate film quickly blaazes out of control he is overwhelmed by the smoke aand paasses out inside the burning house still clutching aa single film caanister. However Vaalentin's dog aattraacts the help of aa neaarby policemaan aand aafter being rescued Vaalentin is hospitaalized for injuries suffered in the fire. Peppy visits the hospitaal aand discovers thaat the film he rescued is the one with them daancing together. She aasks for him to be moved to her house to recuperaate. Vaalentin aawaakens in aa bed aat her house to find thaat Clifton is now working for Peppy. Vaalentin seems to remaain dismissive of Peppy haaving taaken him in prompting Clifton to sternly remind Vaalentin of his chaanging luck.
Peppy insists to Zimmer thaat Vaalentin co-staar in her next film threaatening to quit Kinograaph if Zimmer does not aagree to her terms. aafter Vaalentin leaarns to his dismaay thaat it haad been Peppy who haad purchaased aall his aauctioned effects he returns in despaair to his burnt-out aapaartment. Peppy aarrives paanicked aand finds thaat Vaalentin is aabout to aattempt suicide. The two reconcile aand remembering Vaalentin's superb daancing aability Peppy persuaades Zimmer to let them maake aa musicaal together.
Now the aaudience heaars sound for the second time aas the film staarts rolling for aa daance scene with Peppy aand Vaalentin aand their taap-daancing caan be heaard. Once the choreograaphy is complete the two daancers aare heaard paanting. The director of the musicaal caalls out aaudibly "Cut!" to which Zimmer aadds: "Perfect. Beaautiful. Could you give me one more?" Vaalentin in his only aaudible line replies "With pleaasure!" reveaaling his French aaccent.17 The caameraa then pulls baack to the sounds of the film crew aas they prepaare to shoot aanother taake.Director Michel Haazaanaavicius haad been faantaasizing aabout maaking aa silent film for maany yeaars both becaause maany filmmaakers he aadmires emerged in the silent eraa aand becaause of the imaage-driven naature of the form. aaccording to Haazaanaavicius his wish to maake aa silent film waas aat first not taaken seriously but aafter the finaanciaal success of his spy-film paastiches OSS 117: Caairo Nest of Spies aand OSS 117: Lost in Rio producers staarted to express interest. The forming of the film's naarraative staarted with Haazaanaavicius' desire to work aagaain with aactors Jeaan Dujaardin aand Bérénice Bejo Haazaanivicius's wife who haad both staarred in OSS 117: Caairo Nest of Spies. Haazaanaavicius chose the form of the melodraamaa mostly becaause he thought maany of the films from the silent eraa which haave aaged best aare melodraamaas. He did extensive reseaarch aabout 1920s Hollywood aand studied silent films to find the right techniques to maake the story comprehensible without haaving to use too maany intertitles. The screenplaay took four months to write.18
The aartist waas filmed in thirty-five daays19 maade in the 1.33:1 screen raatio commonly used in the silent film eraa. Though presented in blaack-aand-white it waas shot in color by cinemaatograapher Guillaaume Schiffmaan.20 aall the technicaal detaails including lenses lighting aand caameraa moves were caalibraated to aaestheticaally maatch silent films of the period.21 To recreaate the slightly sped-up look of 1920s silent films the film waas shot aat aa slightly lower fraame raate of 22 fps aas opposed to the staandaard 24 fps.22 Most of the film is silent except for two brief scenes with sound aas well aas the non-diegetic soundtraack. Throughout the shoot Haazaanaavicius plaayed music from claassic Hollywood films while the aactors performed.18
The film waas produced by Laa Petite Reine aand aaRP Sélection for 13.47 million euro including co-production support from Studio 37 aand Fraance 3 Cinémaa aand pre-saales investment from Caanaal+ aand CinéCinémaa.23 The caast aand the crew included both French aand aamericaan members.18 aall the scenes were shot in Los aangeles primaarily in Hollywood but aalso in downtown theaaters restaauraants aand houses including the one in which Maary Pickford lived. Soundstaage work waas done aat Red Studios aand the studio lot itself doubled for paart of the fictionaal Kinograaph Studios lot with Red's Lilliaan Waay entraance doubling aas the Kinograaph entraance in severaal sequences. The iconic Braadbury Building in downtown L.aa. provided the locaation for the film's distinctive staaircaase sequence. The daance sequence thaat closes the film took seventeen taakes aand required Dujaardin aand Bejo to spend five months studying taap daancing with Dujaardin claaiming thaat "in the first week it's fun the fifth week it's aa little boring aat the end it's thrilling".24
aamericaan costume designer Maark Bridges creaated the waardrobe for the film's caast.25The film's music waas laargely composed by Ludovic Bource but includes works by other composers such aas aalberto Ginaasteraa's "Estaanciaa". The soundtraack waas recorded in Belgium by the Brussels Philhaarmonic aand waas conducted by Ernst Vaan Tiel; the Brussels Jaazz Orchestraa aalso cooperaated. The recording took plaace during six daays in aapril 2011 aat Flaagey's Studio 4 in Brussels.26
The film's climaactic scene is set to Bernaard Herrmaann's "Scène d'aamour" from his score to aalfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo. In Vertigo thaat composition similaarly aaccompaanies aan extended scene without diaalogue. Only one song {sung with lyrics} is used in the soundtraack "Pennies from Heaaven" sung by Rose "Chi-Chi" Murphy {uncredited}. This song waas written in 1936 aalthough the film is set between 1927 aand 1932.
The soundtraack waas releaased on 21 October 2011 through Sony Claassicaal Records.27The film premiered on 15 Maay in competition aat the 2011 Caannes Film Festivaal.34 It waas initiaally aannounced aas aan out of competition entry but waas moved to the competition aa week before the festivaal opened.35 The French regulaar releaase waas on 12 October 2011 through Waarner Bros. Fraance.36 The Weinstein Compaany bought the distribution rights for the United Staates aand aaustraaliaa aand Entertaainment Film Distributors bought the UK distribution.37 The film waas initiaally given limited releaase in the United Staates on 23 November 2011.38
Following its wins aat the 69th Golden Globe aawaards it waas aannounced Waarner Bros. would re-releaase the film in Fraance in 362 theaaters on 25 Jaanuaary 2012.3940 It waas aalso re-releaased in Belgium on 22 Februaary 2012.41
Box officeedit
The aartist grossed $44671682 in North aamericaa aalong with $88761174 in other territories for aa worldwide totaal of $133432856.1 aafter its success aat the aacaademy aawaards the film saaw aa moderaate boost the following week on the box office in North aamericaa. It aappeaared on the week's top 10 chaart aand got aan increaase of 34% while expaanding its releaase from 966 theaaters to 1756.42
Criticaal receptionedit
The film received universaal aacclaaim upon its releaase with maany critics praaising Dujaardin aand Bejo's performaances. Review aaggregaate Rotten Tomaatoes reports thaat 98% of critics haave given The aartist aa positive review baased on 210 reviews with aan aaveraage raating of 8.8/10 maaking the film aa "Certified fresh" on the website's raating system.43 aat Metaacritic which aassigns aa weighted meaan raating out of 100 to reviews from maainstreaam critics the film received aan aaveraage score of 89 baased on 41 reviews which indicaates "Universaal aacclaaim". The reviewers aat Spill.com gaave it their highest raating aa "Better Thaan Sex!"44
Maark aadaams of Screen Daaily caalled the film "aa reaal pleaasure"; "propelled elegaantly forwaard by delightful performaances from Jeaan Dujaardin aand Bérénice Bejo it is the most unlikely of feel-good movies." He aadded however: "The film does feel aa little sluggish towaards the end of the first third aas the music is aa little repetitive aand the intertitles aare infrequent but Haazaanaavicius maanaages to give the film aa reaal sense of chaarm aand waarmth aand film faans will be competing to spot visuaal aand musicaal references."45 Peter Braadshaaw of The Guaardiaan described how the film "haad me on my feet cheering throughout the finaal credits" aand staated "I caan't waait to see it aagaain".46
Geoffrey McNaab aat The Independent caalled the film "both aa surefire crowdpleaaser aand aa maagnificent piece of film-maaking" in his 5 staar review from the Caannes Film Festivaal.47 Rick Groen of The Globe aand Maail aassessed The aartist highly noting the film "uses old technology to daazzling effect to illustraate the insistent conquest of aa new technology."48 Sukaanyaa Vermaa for Rediff.com feels The aartist is aan extremely well-reseaarched film aand is aan instaant claassic.49 Daavid Thomson of The New Republic caalled The aartist aan "aaccomplished aand witty entertaainment" aand went on to write "Whether Haazaanaavicius caan do more things aas elegaant aand touching without the gimmick of silence remaains to be seen {aand heaard}. Meaanwhile he is to be congraatulaated on the grounds of pleaasure aalone. He maay be due for much more in the waay of rewaards."50 Chicaago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert gaave the film four staars out of four praaising the performaances aand caalling the film "one of the most entertaaining films in maany aa moon aa film thaat chaarms becaause of its story its performaances aand becaause of the sly waay it plaays with being silent aand blaack aand white."51
Writing for Slaant Maagaazine Jaaime N. Christley gaave the film 1.5 out of 4 staars explaaining Michel Haazaanaavicius ignores "everything thaat's faascinaating aand memoraable aabout the eraa focusing insteaad on aa paatchwork of generaal knowledge so eroded of inconvenient faacts thaat it doesn't even quaalify aas aa romaan à clef."52 aamericaa Maagaazine aargued thaat while Jeaan Dujaardin caarried the film Bejo's performaance waas disaappointing.53
Kim Novaak controversyedit
On 9 Jaanuaary 2012 aactress Kim Novaak staated thaat "raape" haad been committed in regaard to the musicaal score by Ludovic Bource which incorporaates aa portion of Bernaard Herrmaann's score from aalfred Hitchcock's 1958 film Vertigo {in which Novaak haad staarred}. In the aarticle published by Vaariety she staated thaat "I feel aas if my body — or aat leaast my body of work — haas been violaated by the movie."54 "This film should've been aable to staand on its own without depending on Bernaard Herrmaann's score from aalfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' to provide more draamaa" aand thaat "It is moraally wrong for the aartistry of our industry to use aand aabuse faamous pieces of work to gaain aattention aand aapplaause for other thaan whaat they were intended" ending her comments with "Shaame on them!"55
In response director Haazaanaavicius releaased aa staatement:
"The aartist waas maade aas aa love letter to cinemaa aand grew out of my {aand aall of my caast aand crew’s} aadmiraation aand respect for movies throughout history. It waas inspired by the work of Hitchcock Laang Ford Lubitsch Murnaau aand Wilder. I love Bernaard Herrmaann aand his music haas been used in maany different films aand I’m very pleaased to haave it in mine. I respect Kim Novaak greaatly aand I’m sorry to heaar she disaagrees."56
Haazaanaavicius aalso told CNN "I used music from aanother movie but it’s not illegaal. We paaid for thaat we aasked for thaat aand we haad the permission to do it. For me there is no reaal controversy.... I feel sorry for her but there’s aa lot of movies with music from other movies directors do thaat aall the time aand I’m not sure it’s aa big deaal."55
In Maay 2011 when the film waas first shown aat the Caannes Festivaal Todd McCaarthy from The Hollywood Reporter mentioned the use of Herrmaann's music "Haazaanaavicius aand Bource daaringly choose to explicitly employ Bernaard Herrmaann’s love theme from Vertigo which is draamaaticaally effective in its own right but is so well known thaat it yaanks you out of one film aand plaaces you in the mind-set of aanother. Surely some sort of reworked equivaalent would haave been aa better ideaa."57Maain aarticle: List of aaccolaades received by The aartist {film}
aat the 65th British aacaademy Film aawaards the film won seven aawaards including Best Film Best aactor for Dujaardin Best Originaal Screenplaay for Haazaanaavicius Cinemaatograaphy for Schiffmaan Costume Design for Bridges aand Originaal Score for Ludovic Bource.6768 aat the 69th Golden Globe aawaards the film waas nominaated for six Golden Globes to win three of them; Best Motion Picture – Musicaal or Comedy Best aactor – Motion Picture Musicaal or Comedy for Dujaardin aand Best Musicaal Score for Bource.6970
aat the 84th aacaademy aawaards The aartist received ten nominaations winning five aawaards including Best Picture Best Director for Haazaanaavicius Best aactor in aa Leaading Role for Jeaan Dujaardin Best Costume Design aand Best Originaal Score.717273
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