It’s made by the French, stars two actors unknown outside of France, and there are few words spoken. In today’s world of 3D, HD, CGI and other cinematic acronyms, The Artist goes against the grain. A silent movie set in 1920’s Hollywood, it tells of the rise and fall of George Valentin (played by Jean Dujardin), a silent era icon whose downfalls comes about during the birth of sound.
“It was all the idea of the director,” Dujardin explains, speaking at the London premiere of the film earlier this year. “He wanted a 1920’s look to the film, and tell a story in the way that filmmakers of the past used to. To tell it in a way that people would not be used to seeing.”
His character embodies the suave, untouchable aura of golden era Hollywood, and the actor had to do a lot of homework to get the character right. “I saw many movies, mostly Douglas Fairbanks movies but also others. We wanted you to believe this could have been a movie from the 1920’s, and George had to seem like the stars of the time.”
The film requires many things of the actor - firstly, he has to take the audience on a whole cinematic journey without saying a word, and secondly to learn to tap dance for a big dance number in the movie. “It wasn’t that difficult,” he shrugged. “I knew there would be challenges in making the movie, and it’s a chance to act differently and do things actors do not normally do. The dancing was just part of that. The acting, we had to be more expressive. I did get to say some lines, but they are not heard by the audience.”
His performance has earned critical acclaim, and Dujardin himself has been tipped for Oscar glory. However, the modest actor reserves the real praise for one of his co-stars, a dog called Uggy who plays George’s canine companion. “He is the real star,” he exclaimed. “It was wonderful for my character to have this dog with him, who is very similar to him. He is George’s friend for the whole movie and he is very funny to watch.”
