The Artist and some stories of mine

Good days come and good days go. The Artist (2011) was the perfect motion picture to cheer me up, but still. Escapism works for a little while, then the lights are back on and...that's all folks!

To forget and to forgive (life, which is such a bitch, that is) I started thinking of all the sunny little things that come together with this black and white, almost silent treat. Sweet things, like Michel Hazavanicius the acclaimed director, who is of Lithuanian origin, like my ex-roommate and colleague  Paulius. Then Bérénice Bejo, the great Pepy Miller who started off as an unknown girl, a mere passer-by you could say. Being in love with the Artist, the handsome Jean Dujardin (of the garden, the francophones here say with a short laugh) named George Valentin for the film -it rings a bell, doesn't it? He does look like Valentino, after all - brings her all the courage in the world; and fate loves the fearless, we all know that. Yeah, I'm mixing fiction with reality again. I wanted to talk about Bérénice that left her country, Argentina, when she was a child to go with her family to France and start a new life there. Moving in and out from places and people's hearts is quite hard, isn't it?

Bérénice Bejo was not a familiar name to us, big fans of French Cinema till last year and till she saved The Artist. But, she has worked a lot till now -she was all her life in films. Hazanavicius, too. After being happily married the two of them, after they had their second child, then...they got some Oscars. And some more prizes. Forty, maybe? I was thinking that their children would watch them on TV -probably just a silly thought of mine - and they would be so happy; watching mum and dad walking down the red carpet at the Oscars and then taking home some, should be quite a thrill, indeed. Pondering on the hard to pin down patterns of fame and success is something I like doing on my free time, mind me.

Uggie, that unbelievably sweet dog was one more element of happiness in the film. Which was a well-directed, witty film; it was supposed to imitate the oldies, the non-talkies, but it's not exactly the case. This is a very modern take, a much wittier one, than many of the old era films and it had a certain finesse and sounds coming up as a wave ready to take Valentin - Dujardin down in the bottom and let him drown in the most impressive way. I should not give any more details on the scene I am referring to, but you have to go and discover it yourselves. Great photography and excessively photogenic leads, as well as a sturdy John Goodman in the role of a hard-to-convince producer give some extra cinematic bliss. The soundtrack is also nice -but I heard Kim Novak felt violated, because apparently it references a lot the Vertigo theme song (it looks like she wanted to be talked about again, that's all). 

And if I don't make much sense, it's the funny moods that take me sometimes. Don't miss this film. Happy ending, you know.

Check the trailer: