The Artist

Deb 7 Me 7

This is a classic entertainment movie about classic entertainment and it’s evolution. The film pays tribute to the great movies and actors of the past, with many visual and story references to movies like Sunset Boulevard and Citizen Kane but mostly Singing in the Rain. It looked to me like the film was shot in color and then converted to black and white, I say this because the scenes seemed to be washed in light, much the way you shoot for color. Typically, classically, you light more dramatically for b/w because all you have is dark and light, so they made the most of light and shadows. Not so here, where many of the scenes were sort of clinically white. Actors were asked to be over-the-top a lot of the time, much the way acting was done in the old days, but everyone was likeable and did a swell job. I didn’t recognize a lot the players, Malcolm MacDowell was on screen for thirty seconds but made the poster billing and a new slimmer version of John Goodman did his usual superb job in a major role here. In keeping with the old days the music score played a huge part of telling the story and it made a real contribution here too, I really liked the music’s role. It was a good story, dramatic with lots of comic relief and good attention to detail. Seeing this movie was a fine way to spend the evening.