The Artist

     The characters in The Artist are fictional but the storyline was a harsh reality for a number of actors when films starting using a dialogue track. Suddenly, it wasn't just enough to be a physical presence on screen, you had to deliver lines. If you had a thick accent or a stutter or you couldn't read you suddenly found yourself out of work.
     Clara Bow was Hollywood's "It" girl in every sense of the word but when "talkies" came into being and audiences got an earful of her thick Brooklyn accent, the flourish faded. Charlie Chaplin's career ended much too soon because he didn't want his iconic "Little Tramp" to speak. Greta Garbo was one of the few success stories. Despite her heavy Swedish accent, she remained a constant with audiences everywhere. She retired in the 1940's because she felt the world had changed after the war.
     The movie, The Artist, deals with an actor who's on top of the world but then the wheels of progress role over his career as sound becomes the next big thing and his studio finds a new crop of talent to go with it. Part of the new wave of talent is a young woman he "discovered" at the premiere of one of his movies. The two continually cross paths as her star is on the rise and his is falling.
     Michel Hazanavicius wrote and directed the film. He made his bones through the '90's on French television but American audiences probably know him best for his 2006 comedy, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest Of Spies. The Artist stars Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo who were also in OSS 117.
     On a personal note, I can't say enough good things about this movie. I think it's brilliant. This is one of the most entertaining movies I've seen in a long time. Run, do not walk to a theater near you and see it!