The Artist Analysis Essay

The Artist Analysis

Introduction

Silent film, a nearly extinct cinema genre, has been brought back to life to live out its final moments in the modern age. This art is the original form of cinema that first used the techniques of cinematography and acting to construct a base platform that made the film industry into the success it is today. The Artist is of the romance genre, as it tells the story of a silent film actor trying to survive the progressing technology with the film industry and the invention of the “Talkies” or films with dialog that can be heard and eventually finding his place in the end. In this film, lighting, soundtracks and character body language are utilized to communicate with the audience, that storytelling through

George Valentin and Peppy Miller’s body language are essentially the dialog of the film. They do speak in the film in the sense that one can see their lips moving but the crucial part is how each character reacts to each situation within the film. The characters body language communicates to the audience, the emotions that each character is feeling with each scene. In the first scene mentioned, Peppy and George stare into each other’s eyes intently. This type of body language can be interpreted as love for one another. In the other scene, George furrows his eyebrows when he hears the sound effects to show confusion. Body language is used in this film to take the place of oral dialog to demonstrate that an exemplary story does not need voices to explain a

A critique of the New York Times states “There is a lot of music on the soundtrack and also a few strategic moments of onscreen noise that are both delightfully surprising and wildly illogical” (“Sparkling, Swooning and Suffering Wordlessly”, Scott). To clarify, Scott is referring to the soundtracks excellent integration in the film in the two scenes mentioned and more. The music crescendos and decrescendos at the precise moment it should, in addition to the unique sound effects for the second scene mentioned. The story itself can act as a metaphor for film makers in this age. A critique of The Washington Post states “It’s certainly easy to see why Academy members…may relate to a film that taps into their own anxieties as they encounter seismic economic and technological transformations” (“‘The Artist,’ an old-fashioned movie utterly of its time”, Hornaday). The Artist relates to film makers today because they need to adapt to the various audiences to stay in business. It is clear that Michel Hazanavicius utilizes lighting, sound and body language to demonstrate the classic way to tell a narrative is still relative in modern