Once or twice, I’ve discussed “The Festival Mindset”. The idea is that if you get a bunch of like-minded film lovers into one place and show them something, that the reception it garners will be a little bit…off.

That’s not to say that the film you show them is bad – often far from it – it’s just that a festival crowd isn’t as in tune with the filmmaking industry, or general audiences, and when the film gets soaked in by two groups, the reaction is very different. Herein lays the quandary with a film like THE ARTIST. It is wonderful – make no doubt about that. But when the time comes, how will it play?

On Friday night, THE ARTIST debuted to a packed house at the Visa Screening Room. As is often the case in that venue, you could sense an excitement in the air for what was about to unspool. They didn’t have to wait long, as the movie begins with a lot of pluck from a bygone era. Right from the first glimpse of the opening credits, it was plain to see that we were gathered to see something that would make people like Keaton and Chaplin proud. Not wanting to waste any goodwill, the movie immediately charms by opening on a scene that created a ‘screening-within-the-screening’ effect.

For the next ninety minutes it became abundantly clear, that it is still possible to capture and delight an audience without the use of audible dialogue. The movie weaves back and forth between fable and fancy – warning about the perils of pride, but not letting too much time go by without a great sight gag. We are dazzled by both Jean Dujardin as George Valentin (the titular artist), and Bérénice Bejo as Peppy Miller (there’s a name you won’t soon forget). Valentin plays his part with an aplomb that seems equal parts vlaudville and Clooney, while Bejo is a firecracker whose character arc is a nod to the lore of Hollywood.

As the houselights came up, and Dujardin took the stage with director Michel Hazanavicius in tow, there was a boisterous standing ovation to greet them. The love being showered upon them was the culmination of the crowd’s excitement realized on screen, and not bravado led by those involved with the project who might have been in the crowd (as sometimes happens at TIFF). The audience came in ready to love THE ARTIST, and Hazanavicius hit his mark perfectly.

So it was a great night at the theatre, the home crowd went home happy, and everybody – myself included – seemed to have been delighted by a rare and wonderful film. That makes it a slam dunk going forward, right? Perhaps. The film will charm the pants off any festival it plays, and every critic who watches it…but how it does with mainstream audiences, and groups like Oscar voters remains to be seen. No matter how much advance buzz it’s getting, black & white silent film is still niche, and it may struggle to get a foothold.

Here’s hoping it doesn’t, and that the crowd tonight can join the glitzy audiences of Cannes in being able to say “I was there when…”

14 Replies to “TIFF Review: THE ARTIST”

  1. I dunno how this’ll play with mainstream North Americans, but I’d imagine this would be something the Academy would eat up with a spoon, no? I mean, a movie that celebrates Hollywood’s Golden Age has gotta hit them where they live.

    1. Here’s hoping! I just don’t have a clear read on them this year – they might find it fits the mould, or they may find it too arty.

      Gonna be very interesting to see.

  3. Loved this review! I don’t know why but I almost started to cry at the end of it. I agree with you! There are people who will appreciate such kind of movie, while I’m not sure if it can reach any audience. I, for one, was over the moon when I found out that a modern silent feature was filmed. I felt it was a thing they should have done, as an experiment nowadays. I hope I will like it.

    By the way, don’t you give films ratings anymore?

    1. You have no idea how much it males me smile to hear that something I wrote affected someone in such an emotional way. Thanks sweetheart – that made my morning.

      I do hope this plays somewhere near you, it sounds like you’ll really get a lot from it.

      To answer your question, my TIFF reviews don’t get ratings because I find it really difficult to rate a film within the insanity of a festival. I need time to let them breathe. Anything that gets a major release will be reviewed again down the road…complete with a star rating.

  4. I’m so jealous you got to see this already!! The trailer looks positively smashing, glad to hear it lives up to the hype. I hope it’ll come around to my neck of the woods and not just in one theater.

    Have fun @ TIFF, Ryan!

    1. I’m sure it will play MSP, but it *is* arty, so I don’t know if it will get play at the multiplex. Do chase it down when it arrives because it’s totally worth the effort.

  5. I’m so frustrated. Little known fact that this played at the World Film Festival in Montréal a few weeks ago…but my schedule simply did not permit me to catch the screening. The reviews came out, everybody loved it and now it’s a darling at TIFF too, and will most likely be a darling at any other festivals. I think it comes out wide in November, so there is at least a bit of comfort in knowing that I will see it eventually, but man I would have loved to be one of the early ones to see it.

    1. I didn’t know that it played Montreal as well – that’s a big get for them. It did well at Cannes, so I woulda jumped on it – but like you say, it’ll get play in November, so no huge loss.

  6. I’m super psyched for this, especially because I love the OSS 117 films they’ve done (though I can of course recognize that this will be quite different!). I’m really happy to hear it got such a positive response at TIFF and that you enjoyed it so much. Here’s hoping it gets a decent theater release or at least plays at IFF Boston.

    1. You’re the second person to mention OSS117 – I think I might have to track ’em down once this is all over.

      You’ll get to see this well before IFF Boston, and I’m gonna bet that you’ll love it.

  7. This looks like it will be absolutely brilliant. I doubt it will get a release here in NZ, but if it does, I’m ready to go to the first screening possible. I’m so glad somebody has made a silent film again, especially because it deals with my favourite thing I like to see on screen: fame!

    Anyway, do you think that this will get any Oscar nods? (I hope so – that means it will come to NZ faster)

Comments are closed.