You'll get no argument from me. Michel Hazanavicius’s novelty film, "The Artist," is an artful charmer but it's little more than that, taking its inspiration from such Tinseltown chestnuts as "A Star Is Born" and "Singin' in the Rain" as it tracks the downward spiral of fictional silent film fave George Valentin following his willful refusal to make talkies.And that's it.
It's difficult to get fully invested in George's plight because, unlike Jean Hagan's Lina Lamont in "Singin' in the Rain," the problem apparently isn't a horrible speaking voice. He just doesn't want to be seen talking on film.
Why? Well, because he doesn't believe in it.
Anyway, getting engaged in the life of someone who willfully sabotages his own career is hardly worth the time. Frankly, it makes no sense.
The one element that does engage us - or me, at least - is star Jean Dujardin as George. Dujardin is a terrifically magnetic actor, but it's his wide smile that's irresistible and that attracts us - a smile made for CinemaScope. The fact is, when Dujardin is on screen, you can't take your eyes off him. He's a real Movie Star. This is masterful casting. And playing Esther Blodgett to his Norman Maine, Bérénice Bejo is pitch-perfect as an ingénue who lives up to her name - Peppy Miller.
Now, on to other things...
The film's composer Ludovic Bource (or perhaps Hazanavicius himself) has appropriated a huge hunk of music from Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (1958) - namely, Bernard Hermann's extended Love Suite - for the middle section of the film. I'm referring to the 10-minute sequence (spoiler alert!) in which (1) Dujardin spots himself in the reflection of a store window, (2) finds all his belongings that Bejo clandestinely purchased at the auction and then (3) goes home to commit suicide, a sequence that crosscuts to a frantic Bejo driving through L.A. hoping to rescue him.
Hermann's music receives the usual perfunctory, miniscule mention in the end credits, which doesn't seem nearly enough. And exacerbating the situation, the title "Vertigo" isn't invoked at all for some curious reason.
I believe that it can be safely assumed that Bource will be a major contender for a scoring Oscar - and will be the presumed winner, given that the film is literally wall-to-wall music. His score is very good, but the fact is, the most impressive piece of music in "The Artist" was written by...
Bernard Hermann.
It's likely that most viewers (and perhaps even some uninformed Academy voters) will not be aware of this; I don't think any critic has mentioned it so far. I wonder if, should he win the Oscar, Bource will mention Hermann's contribution to the film. I'm a little disappointed that the Hitchcock and Hermann estates would allow such an appropriation without more prominent screen credit: Hermann should be mentioned in the opening credits - below, or parathentical to, Bource's credit.
Any opinions on this? Share!
Addendum: After writing this, I learned that several others concur with me regarding the use of the Hermann music in the film, including one of the stars of "Vertigo," Kim Novak. Here's what Anne Thompson has to say on the matter of Novak's protest.
25 comments:
Lots of self-consciously stylish touches in terms of camera position and movement (many oddly angled close-ups) in "The Artist," but for my taste there just was not much “story” there and I agree with you that the actor's adamant decision not to talk on screen seemed kinda whacky.
Am always intrigued by the topic of
music theft. Was stunned by the great use of an entire movement from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony in the climactic final section of "The King's Speech."
Then up come the credits with a whole screen to himself: "Music By
Alexander Desplat."
Oh, really?
Only toward the middle and end of the credits did it say two tiny things about "Source music licensed by from blah blah"
What an outrage!
Long time reader, first time poster. The use of the "Vertigo" music bugged me, too, when I saw the film - but for different reasons. It took me out of the story completely. Too intrusive. But I agree with you not too many people who see the film will recognize it or even be aware of its source and that's just not right.
Great post, Joe, very persuasive. And I agree with Gregg. "The Artist" loses the moments of introspection that I so carefully builds when the Hermann suite is introduced. It was a complete distraction. What was the filmmaker thinking?
Can such components as a borrowed piece of film music make positive, rather than negative, contributions to a film? It depends, I guess. Filmmakers have been doing it for years, and often with atribution. When it works, nobody squawks; when it doesn't, it becomes the topic of conversation. Nevertheless, the source should be referenced so that the wrong composer doesn't get the credit.
I'm afraid that, based on the "'Artist' acolytes" that I've met, any criticism of this film, no matter how valid, will be rendered invalid and will end any sustained conversation about its flaws because its supporters are so dismissive of differing opinions from the outset.
P.R.: I'm not sure how Desplat is credited on screen, but imdb lists his contribution as "Original Music by." This is accurate; the original music heard on the soundtrack is by Desplat.
Reportedly, the film's editor used Beethoven's Seventh as temp music for the speech prior to Desplat being hired. Desplat thought it worked, so he chose not to compose a new piece for the scene.
At any rate, neither THE KING'S SPEECH nor THE ARTIST can be said to be guilty of "music theft." Credit and, presumably, compensation have been given where due. The Beethoven is in the public domain, of course, but the specific performance heard would have been licensed for use in the film.
Hermann's music surpasses the rest of the score, period.
Jay! I don't believe "music theft" is the point here. However, while you say, "credit and, presumably, compensation have been given where due," it is still a bit curioius that the type used for the music listing in the end credits is so small and that the Hermann credit lists his contribution only as "Love Theme," with no reference whatsoever to "Vertigo."
I figure that "The Artist" will be a best film nominee, but a friend says it can also qualify in the foreign category because it's French. I say no because that category is actually called "foreign-language" and no one speaks French or any other language in it. What do you say?
I say no, too. You're right.
Joe: Oh, I agree that the true point has to do with according the proper respect to Herrmann (either by giving him a more prominent and accurate credit or by leaving out the VERTIGO excerpt altogether). I was just responding to P.R.'s characterization of 'music theft.'
I also agree with you and Sheila that THE ARTIST will not be a factor in the Foreign Language Film race. True, there's no dialogue track in any language, but that was also true of LE BAL, a 1983 dance film that scored a nomination. But, THE ARTIST was made in the U.S., which I think automatically disqualifies it under Academy rules. It's moot anyway because France's official submission was LA GUERRE EST DECLAREE (DECLARATION OF WAR). Each country gets only one submission per year.
Merci, Jay!
I knew about this, but i was surprised by the reaction of Kim Novak.
However, it's become SOP for European "art" films. That Italian miniseries that everyone seemed to love, THE BEST OF YOUTH, drove me crazy because the entire score was "composed" of snippets from Delerue, Auric, etc. You're watching a scene, and the music from JULES AND JIM or BEAUTY AND THE BEAST comes on, and it kept throwing me out of the movie, because i was no longer watching the scene but remembering the scene from another movie. And Scorsese did it in CASINO: if i wanted to be watching Godard's CONTEMPT, let me watch Godard's CONTEMPT. Don't slather Delerue's score over Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone.
But this is how things are with most movies, and it's actually not so different from the studio days, when composers had to work on so many movies a year that there were times they simply regurgitated the same score for different movies. Hell: Max Steiner did this to death!
I recognized the music from "Vertigo" as soon as it started playing. "Vertigo" is one of my all-time favorite movies and its music is just so lovely and spellbinding. I love it. I was surprised it was used in this movie, though. I thought the music had a right place for the scenes, but I'm sad to hear that not enough credit was granted of it. You hear that music and immediately think, "Vertigo." It should have been mentioned.
You wrote: :"It's difficult to get fully invested in George's plight because, unlike Jean Hagan's Lina Lamont in "Singin' in the Rain," the problem apparently isn't a horrible speaking voice. He just doesn't want to be seen talking on film."
A silly friend of mine suggested that this is addressed at the end of the film when George finally speaks and he has a heavy French accent. She seems to think that his accent would have made it difficult for moviegoers to understand what he was saying and that's why he didn't want to speak on film. I disagree.
I disagree, too, Janet. The theory that your friend posits doesn't make any sense because when George does speak at the end of the film, he says only one word. It makes no sense that, on the basis of one word, anyone would discern an accent. And the reason George says only one word is because the director of "The Artist" was cognizant of the facts that he was making a film set in America, set within the American film industry and supposedly populated with American actors - but that he was working with a French leading man. What better way to disguise this fact than to have him say one word and only one word?
Joe! Congratulations on being an early bird alerting folks about the use of the Hitchcock score in "The Artist." Started seeing mainstream news about the controversy in the past few days, and thought of you!
Finally saw this and agree with your assessment, Joe. I had a hard time understanding character motivations. It's hard to buy that Valentin's objections to sound are purely artistic, and no one seems to suggest there's any other issue. However, I disagree with you and Janet -- like her "silly friend," I believe Valentin's accent at the end seems intended to retroactively explain his real reason for resisting sound. He doesn't say only one word; he says "With pleasure." Only in his heavy French accent, it comes out as "Wiz pleasure."
I'm a bit more of a cynic, Jay, but you and Janet's friend may be right.
i agree with jay
I know it's a bit late to be commenting, but I was stunned by this in your review: " He just doesn't want to be seen talking on film. Why? Well, because he doesn't believe in it."
Did you not hear the snippet of sound at the end? I took it to be the payoff of the whole film - the point being that once the American public heard him speak, the image he'd built with them would be shattered.
You disagree?
Actually, Clay, I do disagree. But politely. He speaks only two words at the end, "With pleasure," and they are perfectly understandable, despite a faint accent. I think you - and others (you are not alone in your deduction) - are reading something into the film that "The Artist" never addresses. His nationality, voice and accent are never mentioned; he simply walks away from a successful career - and ruins his life - because he's against what he sees as a passing fad. The world moves on without him - both on-screen and off - and that's the melancholy point of "The Artist."
Well, per'aps you are right. I hope I was not impolite in commenting in the first place. Having since heard the actor interviewed, it is evident that the accent was not put on, so the question remains unsettled. Thanks for responding.
Cheers,
Clay
No, Clay, you weren't impolite at all - and your observation has been voiced by many. Yew, the star of "The Artist," Jean Dujardin, may be French in real-life, but the nationality of the character he plays, George Valentin, is - I believe - supposed to be American.
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