The Artist

 (27 customer reviews)

Each year, around this time, an unexpected art house film emerges as a critical darling with Academy Awards potential. It happened to Life is Beautiful in 1998, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in 2000, Brokeback Mountain in 2005, Juno in 2007, Slumdog Millionaire in 2008, Precious in 2009... the list goes on and on. In 2011, that film could be The Artist, director Michel Hazanavicius's story about a silent movie matinee idol in 1920s Hollywood whose career is threatened by the advent of sound in motion pictures. The difference here, unlike those other films, is that The Artist is a silent film itself, shot in black and white and in such a way that the style and tone of the piece mirrors the very films in which Hazanavicius's protagonist appears. The movie stars Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle and Penelope Ann Miller, and has already opened to great critical acclaim in the United States.

Back in the early part of the 20th century, films...Read more

Silent films are a bit of an acquired taste for modern audiences, but from the advent of "movies" as we understand them in the early 1900's to about 1930 or so, "talkies" were essentially unthinkable. Silent films were all about image--the grand gesture, the longing look, the outstretched hand. There was no dialogue to distract the viewer from the visual medium, but there was...Music. Glamorous, dazzling music, sometimes--sometimes orchestral in sweep, sometimes tinkly and small; sometimes designed to be played live with the picture, sometimes integrated into the film, but always providing that auditory link to the emotional life of the characters the helped to hook the audience. Ludovic Bource has clearly inhabited the soul of the scores from the 1920's to early 1930's with his grand, swashbuckling gestures and his swaggering jazz era numbers. This score is, above all things, gorgeous to listen to, full of memorable tunes and generous melodies. From the toe tapping, Gershwin...Read more

Score has always been the one constant through narrative filmmaking. If modern day films share one major aspect with the silent film era (besides storytelling) it's musical score. Before filmmakers had the ability to record dialogue and sound effects they relied on live music played by a piano player inside the theater for every show. Then finally when sound could be recorded onto film music was the first thing. It's just a natural storytelling device, and to this day remains the most important aspect of filmmaking. So, what would you say if there was a silent film released in 2011? For The Artist we do indeed have a silent film made in 2011, and just like when film started out we have score front and center.

Ludovic Bource's score is a stunning reminder of how score functioned when it was the only sound the audience would here. The vital importance of this music is so unique when compared to other films today. The score on this album works hand in hand with the actors to...Read more