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IMDbPro

The Artist

  • 2011
  • PG-13
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
245K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,303
6
Bérénice Bejo and Jean Dujardin in The Artist (2011)
Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.
Play trailer0:31
15 Videos
99+ Photos
ComedyDramaRomance

An egomaniacal film star develops a relationship with a young dancer against the backdrop of Hollywood's silent era.An egomaniacal film star develops a relationship with a young dancer against the backdrop of Hollywood's silent era.An egomaniacal film star develops a relationship with a young dancer against the backdrop of Hollywood's silent era.

  • Director
    • Michel Hazanavicius
  • Writer
    • Michel Hazanavicius
  • Stars
    • Jean Dujardin
    • Bérénice Bejo
    • John Goodman
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.9/10
    245K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,303
    6
    • Director
      • Michel Hazanavicius
    • Writer
      • Michel Hazanavicius
    • Stars
      • Jean Dujardin
      • Bérénice Bejo
      • John Goodman
    • 745User reviews
    • 588Critic reviews
    • 89Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 5 Oscars
      • 162 wins & 204 nominations total

    Videos15

    TV Spot
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch TV Spot
    Official Version
    Trailer 2:26
    Watch Official Version
    First Trailer
    Trailer 2:26
    Watch First Trailer
    Uggie, Toto, & Award-Winning Movie Dogs
    Clip 3:31
    Watch Uggie, Toto, & Award-Winning Movie Dogs
    "Screen Dance"
    Clip 0:49
    Watch "Screen Dance"
    "Taking Bows"
    Clip 1:01
    Watch "Taking Bows"
    "Breakfast Table"
    Clip 0:45
    Watch "Breakfast Table"
    The Artist: International Trailer
    Clip 2:28
    Watch The Artist: International Trailer
    The Artist: Breakfast Table
    Clip 0:45
    Watch The Artist: Breakfast Table
    The Artist: Taking Bows
    Clip 1:01
    Watch The Artist: Taking Bows
    The Artist: Screen Dance
    Clip 0:49
    Watch The Artist: Screen Dance
    The Artist: Michael Hazanavicius On Why He Chose To Make A Film Like The Artist
    Featurette 7:26
    Watch The Artist: Michael Hazanavicius On Why He Chose To Make A Film Like The Artist

    Photos151

    Malcolm McDowell and Bérénice Bejo in The Artist (2011)
    Penelope Ann Miller in The Artist (2011)
    Jean Dujardin and Missi Pyle in The Artist (2011)
    Bérénice Bejo in The Artist (2011)
    John Goodman and Bob Glouberman in The Artist (2011)
    Michel Hazanavicius in The Artist (2011)
    Bérénice Bejo and Jean Dujardin in The Artist (2011)
    Jean Dujardin in The Artist (2011)
    Uggie at an event for The Artist (2011)
    Lassie and Uggie at an event for The Artist (2011)
    Omar Von Muller and Uggie at an event for The Artist (2011)
    Uggie at an event for The Artist (2011)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jean Dujardin
    Jean Dujardin
    • George Valentin
    Bérénice Bejo
    Bérénice Bejo
    • Peppy Miller
    John Goodman
    John Goodman
    • Al Zimmer
    James Cromwell
    James Cromwell
    • Clifton
    Penelope Ann Miller
    Penelope Ann Miller
    • Doris
    Missi Pyle
    Missi Pyle
    • Constance
    Beth Grant
    Beth Grant
    • Peppy's Maid
    Ed Lauter
    Ed Lauter
    • Peppy's Butler
    Joel Murray
    Joel Murray
    • Policeman Fire
    Elizabeth Tulloch
    Elizabeth Tulloch
    • Norma
    • (as Bitsie Tulloch)
    Ken Davitian
    Ken Davitian
    • Pawnbroker
    Malcolm McDowell
    Malcolm McDowell
    • The Butler
    Basil Hoffman
    Basil Hoffman
    • Auctioneer
    Bill Fagerbakke
    Bill Fagerbakke
    • Policeman Tuxedo
    Nina Siemaszko
    Nina Siemaszko
    • Admiring Woman
    • (as Nina Siemazko)
    Stephen Mendillo
    Stephen Mendillo
    • Set Assistant
    Dash Pomerantz
    Dash Pomerantz
    • Peppy's Boyfriend
    Beau Nelson
    • Peppy's Boyfriend
    • Director
      • Michel Hazanavicius
    • Writer
      • Michel Hazanavicius
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Jean Dujardin became the first-ever French actor to win a Best Actor Academy Award when he won an Oscar for this film.
    • Goofs
      When George meets Peppy for the first time, he is surrounded by reporters and photographers. One reporter has the typical "PRESS" card stuck in his hat brim, but the typeface is Helvetica, which was not introduced until 1958.
    • Quotes

      Doris: I'm unhappy.

      George Valentin: So are millions of us.

    • Crazy credits
      The opening credits are in the style of the 1920s and 1930s, complete with technical credits shown the way they were then.
    • Connections
      Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.18 (2011)
    • Soundtracks
      Estancia OP.8
      (Alberto Ginastera))

      Conducted by Ernst van Tiel (as Ernst Van Tiel)

      Performed by Brussels Philharmonic (as Brussels Philharmonic - The Orchestra of Flanders)

      ©Boosey & Hawkes c/o Editions Durand/Universal

      (p) 2011 La Petite Reine

      Courtesy of Universal Music Vision

    User reviews745

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    A Masterpiece that will leave you ... Speechless ...
    «We didn't need dialogs, we had faces» said the narcissistic Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) in Billy Wilder' "Sunset Boulevard", referring to the Silent Era, when she used to be big … before the 'pictures got small'.

    The reason of this introduction is that after watching Michel Hazanavicius' critically acclaimed: "The Artist", I strongly felt this was the perfect illustration to Norma Desmond's iconic eulogy. From beginning to end, my eyes never ceased to be amazed by the communicative smile of Jean Dujardin as George Valentin, the aging silent movie star and the sparkling eyes of Berenice Bejo as Peppy Miller, the young and flamboyant starlet. Their faces occupy the screen with such an electrifying magnetism that they don't just steal the scenes, they steal the dialogs … literally.

    I was awestruck by Dujardin's performance. To those who didn't grew up with French TV programs, he's one of the most popular and talented comedians of his generation. Dujardin created the character of Brice de Nice, a blonde surfer whose specialty was to 'diss people', but it was so funny it never sounded mean-spirited. He was a member of a cult comic-troop (who made sketches à la SNL) but even back then, he had a little something that made him special: a voice, a smile, a charisma in both TV and movies, in both dramatic and comedic register. There was no doubt in France that the guy who was famous for his impressions of Robert De Niro and the camel (and even De Niro doing the camel) was promised to a brilliant career.

    Look closely at Jean Dujardin's face, it's like drawn with 'classic' features: the finely traced mustache who builds a Fairbanks-like charisma like the strength from Samson's hair, the dazzling smile making him look like the lost son of Gene Kelly, and a certain macho toughness reminding of a young Sean Connery. Dujardin's face is a gift from cinematic Gods, and "The Artist" finally lets it glide, earning him the Cannes Festival Award for Best Actor. I sincerely believe he deserves an Oscar nomination, because he just doesn't play an actor from the Silent Era, he embodies the Era with the same level of demented craziness as Norma Desmond, in a brighter and more light-hearted side.

    Valentin's self-absorption echoes Desmond's cynical ego while his gaudy 'Don Lockwood' mask (Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain") hides the more poignant face of his insecurity. He's the star of the screen because only the screen allows him to express his unique talent. While Lockwood had to adapt to the 'talking' revolution, George Valentin makes a conservative U Turn starting an inexorable descent into madness, from an outcast, to a has-been until being finally alienated by his own talkie-phobia. The direction is so clever that it challenges many times our perceptions, creating unexpected feelings of discomfort when real sounds are heard. But I was surprised to see how much it worked on a dramatic level.

    And this is the strength of the film, although I expect it to discomfort some viewers: it isn't a tribute in the literary meaning of the word. It has its moments where it tricks us into the use of sounds or dialogs, but never fails to distract us from the core of the story: the romance. Very quickly, we forget about spotting the hints, the references to silent classics: chase scenes, over-the-top comical gesticulations, slapstick jokes etc. This mindset would disappoint those who expected a film with the same material as Mel Brook's "Silent Movie", which was clearly a tribute. "The Artist" IS a silent movie, featuring a beautiful romance between George and Peppy, who got her break with an idea from George, something that would make her different from the other actresses: a beauty spot above the upper lip. A clever credit-billing montage depicts her consequent ascension to stardom until she finally dethrones George and makes a has-been out of him.

    If I mentioned the performance of Dujardin, Berenice Bejo also deserves some accolades because she succeeded in looking so "old" from our POV yet so fresh and modern in the film, with the appealing feel-good and optimistic attitude she constantly brings on screen. With her doll-face and youngish smile, she's like a cute little girl enjoying what she does. In a way, Peppy Miller embodies the film's most inspirational element: a positive message about passion and enjoyment. And this indirectly highlights George's source of troubles: being deprived from what he enjoyed the most and suffering from his progressive fading into oblivion. Along with this conflict, the evolution of George and Peppy's romance never feels forced, quite an accomplishment when we consider how slightly over-the-top silent movie stars used to act.

    Both Dujardin and Bejo are indeed powerful in an Oscar-worthy level and at that moment, I can't continue without mentioning the third character of the film, George's dog. The relationship between George and the dog provides a sort of Chaplinesque feel to the movie, a mix of tenderness and poignancy, so natural and convincing I wonder if the Academy will think of a honorary Oscar. Anyway, I applaud Hazanivicius for not having reduced "The Artist" to a flashy spectacle with no substance, with the word 'homage' as the director's convenient alibi, and make a touching romance about two people who met each other at a pivotal time in the history of film-making, each representing a side of cinema, the old-school silent generation: Chaplin, Keaton, Pickford and the exuberant talkers: Grant, Hepburn, Davis … And I'm glad he found the true note to reconcile between these two universes at the end … didn't I tell you Dujardin was the lost son of Gene Kelly?

    "The Artist" plays like a missing link between "Singin' in the Rain" and "Sunset Boulevard" and it's indeed one of the best films of 2011, with the absence of words as an endearing 'beauty spot'.
    helpful•325
    115
    • ElMaruecan82
    • Nov 14, 2011

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    FAQ3

    • To whom is the film dedicated?
    • Why didn't George Valentin make talkies?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 20, 2012 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • Belgium
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Facebook (Germany)
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Beauty Spot
    • Filming locations
      • Bradbury Building - 304 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA(Kinograph studio staircase)
    • Production companies
      • Studio 37
      • La Petite Reine
      • La Classe Américaine
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $15,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $44,671,682
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $204,878
      • Nov 27, 2011
    • Gross worldwide
      • $133,471,171
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 40 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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