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| Uggie, the star, and who is that other guy? |
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By Charles Ealy
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF, from Auston360.com
Ever since Jean Dujardin won best actor at the Cannes Film Festival, accolades for "The Artist" have been pouring in. And many critics think that the little black-and-white silent movie an oddity in the days of 3-D blockbusters will get an Oscar nomination for best picture.
Speaking by telephone from Rome, French director Michel Hazanavicius says there's one unexpected topic that keeps coming up: Specifically, Uggie, the 9-year-old Jack Russell terrier who follows the silent film star George Valentin (Dujardin) at the center of "The Artist" and steals many a scene.
"When I was making the movie, I didn't realize how important the dog was going to be," says the director. "But when I screened the movie, the character of the dog became really important and everyone was talking about it."
Hazanavicius says he thinks he knows why. "The central character, George, is selfish, egocentric, proud and mean to his wife. ... He even has a huge portrait of himself hanging in his home. But he has a dog, and the dog loves him. You trust the dog. It's a collective unconscious. If the dog loves him, he must be lovable, and that's very important. And the dog stays with George throughout the movie, through the ups and downs."
COMMENT: Any dog that loves a selfish man, makes the guy look better. Uggie (and the two others that helped him act the role) became the scene-stealing star of the show. My soon to be published review:
“The Artist”
4 stars • • • •
Hilarious, charming, eloquently silent
By Norman Mark
“The Artist,” an homage to silent films, succeeds on charm, cleverness, and the most lovable dog since Moose, the Jack Russell Terrier who played Eddie Crane on the TV series Frasier.
First, about the dog: Uggie, who plays Jack (with occasional help from Dash and Dude), is also a Jack Russell Terrier and he does wonders humanizing the lead character, an egotistical silent film star (imitating Ronald Coleman or Douglas Fairbanks Sr.) named George Valentin, played with smoldering delightfulness by Jean Dujardin.
The movie tells a new version of the real-life John Gilbert – Greta Garbo story: he was a huge star in silent films, Garbo appeared in a few of them, then eclipsed him when sound entered as he descended into booze and depression.
The film does such a good job that seconds after it begins I did not miss the sound dialogue at all (delightful music plays throughout).
It starts in 1927 with a meet cute: Valentin, after an opening of one of his popular swashbuckler films, accidentally (and literally) bumps into Peppy Miller, played with great verve by Bérénice Bejo.
We follow their careers as she gets parts as extras or maids and eventually starring roles. George, always nattily attired with his dog at his side, is fired when talkies take over and then the question is: will George accept help from Peppy?
Eventually there is a joyous ending, but I will write no more about that for fear of spoiling the fun.
“The Artist” is certainly Peppy as it joyously re-creates the style of silent films: actors emoting while staring at the camera or giving each other smoldering looks; dissolves involving a circle getting smaller and smaller or montages with dancing or walking feet over theatre posters, etc. In other words, it doesn’t miss a trick in this tribute to the almost lost art of silent films.
The cast features John Goodman as the studio executive; James Cromwell, who became hugely popular after “Babe” in 1994; and Malcolm McDowell, who has a couple of scenes with Peppy and who was in over 208 movies and TV shows according to his IMDB biography.
The director, Michel Hazanavicius, who will be honored at the Palm Springs Film Festival, has bravely created a movie throwback, recreating something that disappeared over eight decades ago.
The film picked up considerable excitement when Dujardin was named Best Actor at the Cannes film festival (he also won at the Independent Spirit Awards and the Hollywood Film Festival). Film critics in Washington, D.C., Boston and New York have named “The Artist” the best film of the year. Also, the European Film Awards and the Washington, DC film critics, have called the score and the composer, Ludovic Bource, the best of 2011.
“The Artist” is a comedic and emotional delight, worthy of the accolades it has already gotten and the ones it will receive (Oscars, take note).
Norman Mark’s dog Gizmo’s blog is at: http://gizmogooddog.blogspot.com/. His Santa Fe Diary is now at http://santafediary.blogspot.com.
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