Uninspired by boring blockbuster movie posters all summer? Well here’s some classy work that should chase those blues away.
First up, the lovely and elegant “The Artist” gets an equally lovely and elegant one sheet as it gears up to take North America by storm after premiering at Cannes this spring to rave reviews and a Best Actor win for Jean Dujardin. Directed by Michel Hazanavicius (the ‘OSS 177‘ films) and starring Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, the story centers on a fictional silent movie star, George Valentin (a dazzling performance by Dujardin), who finds his career fading with the advent of the talkies, while an actress he mentors, Peppy Miller (Bejo) begins a rise to stardom. The kicker here is that Hazanavicius produced the film as a silent movie itself and in the process creates a gloriously entertaining postcard to the classic cinema era, that is heartfelt and humorous and really, a celebration of the old school glamour of the movies. Of all the movies we saw at Cannes, this one was more or less a unanimous favorite, a film that even confined to the strictures of a silent movie feels more refreshing and alive than anything else we’ve seen (so far) this year. As we noted in our review, it’s joyous and big-hearted in a way that few films ever achieve. It has made its North American premiere already at the Montreal World Film Festival and will hit TIFF next month. It opens in limited release on November 23rd.
…and we were just talking about “The Lady.” In case you missed it, the trailer for Luc Besson‘s drama (for real) about Burmese pro-democracy politician and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi debuted earlier today and looked like a surprising change of direction for the usually more blockbuster driven producer and director. To help get the word out, Besson has enlisted noted artist Shepard Fairey (who you might remember from “Exit Through The Gift Shop“) to create a one sheet for the film and if it looks a lot like the Barack Obama Hope poster — because he designed that too. This particular poster is actually a riff on the 2009 Freedom To Lead artwork he created with Kyi pictured; he just swapped out the activist for the actress, Michelle Yeoh.
“The Lady” premieres at TIFF next month, but as of yet, has no stateside distribution. [THR/MCN]