Set in the fabulously chic world of Hollywood circa 1927, Jean Dujardin plays a silent film star, George Valentin at the peak of his career. As he poses enthusiastically for the press, a young woman, Peppy Miller, stumbles onto the red carpet, and into his life. The attraction is instant, and mutual. Fate shines on this nobody who craves to be somebody as she is spotted at an audition by Valentin whose appetite is whet and who insists she is given a part in the next production. A combination of talent and sex appeal, enable her to rise through the industry towards stardom and we soon see her name on lights where Valentin's once appeared. We observe him become increasingly disconnected from reality, and as his wife walks out on him and his dreams, he begins the tragically inevitable descent to rock bottom. Unable to accept that the golden age of the silent movie is fading fast, his career, livelihood and sanity are in jeopardy when he starts gambling in a high stakes game with seriously bad odds. He is chasing a dream that has already been interrupted and revised, and refuses to let go. Powerlessness and unmanageability are manifest, but he cannot accept either, and sentences himself to yet more pain.
Driven by self will run riot, the object of his affliction really is in his reflection and his ego spirals out of control. Unable to let go, and admit defeat, he decides to finance, produce and direct his own silent film, which is of course a flop. Circumstances conspire against him as not only does his movie crash and burn, but Wall Street does too and we see him lose everything, except his impossibly loyal valet (possibly another untreated codependent). Desperate and drunk, Valentin sets a match to the canisters containing his earlier films, and is trapped in the blaze.
His brilliant dog (the star of the show) engineers his master's rescue, and he makes a miraculous recovery chez Miller whose codependency escalates as she intervenes and attempts to rescue him. In returning his possessions which she purchased at auction, it becomes clear it is his pride that has been damaged revealing the painful reality that she is powerless to remedy. The story is not without happy ending, as there is always hope for recovery and in the closing scene we see the pair of them dancing having discovered a more serene way of life in which they are happy, joyous and free.
Reading between the lines (that weren't there - it being silent movie), The Artist is a terrific film about addiction. Cunning, baffling and insidious. In it, we see the main character stumble across an unforeseen rock bottom. We also see the painful plight of the codependent, who so desperately wants to rescue and save him. It's a match made in heaven, and a collusive a fit as they come - you don't need a script to see that.
Addiction is about far more than substances. It's a destructive process that consumes the sufferer. The hallmarks are visible to the discerning witness: the obsession, the denial and the unstoppable progression. Addiction is a shame based illness that thrives in isolation. The film's plot takes the unsuspecting viewer on a dreadful journey from the height of fame and fortune to the depths of a suicidal depression in the company of a raging addict desperately craving his fix - to be adored. The road to hell is paved with good intentions... For someone who suffers from codependency, the compulsion to take on a project is almost magnetic. The allure of the drama is itself intense, and the pull of the unavailable electrifying. Codependents derive their identity from their ceaseless strivings, they exist to help, but do so to a point that goes a long way past altruism and continues, often headlong, into self destruct.
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