The Wrestler (2008)

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Verdict: Sometimes hard to watch but always, always a film with grit, heart and integrity. In other words, classic Aronofsky. Rourke gives the performance of his career to date as the absolutely lovable violent thug Randy ‘The Ram’, complemented brilliantly by stripper/mom Marisa Tomei and abandoned daughter Evan Rachel Wood.


It wouldn’t be a film by Darren Aronofsky if it didn’t mix moments of graphic violence, blood and gore with heart-wrenching scenes of emotion and inner-torment. The Wrestler won universal acclaim upon its release, and it’s easy to see why.

Rourke gives a deeply-affecting performance as Robin ‘Randy the Ram’ Ramzinski; a performance that saw the actor welcomed back into Hollywood’s A-List folds after a long time in the cold with an Oscar nomination. Rourke’s multi-layered performance is one of several brilliant acting turns in The Wrestler; Tomei is both hilarious and heart-breaking as stripper/mother Cassidy/Pam, in a role that saw her earn an Academy Award nomination for Supporting Actress. Wood is sharply believable as Randy’s bitter daughter Stephanie, in a sub-plot that builds Randy’s character up for a fall.

There are moments, mostly in the first half of the film, that are extremely graphic. Not shocking, considering this is a film about a professional wrestler. Aronofsky considers The Wrestler to be a companion piece to Black Swan, an equally disturbing and graphic film about an athlete’s search for satisfaction in perfection.

The poignancy and emotion of Aronofsky’s film comes, in majority, from the startling parallels to be drawn between Ram’s life and Rourke’s life off-screen. This fact was played upon massively in the publicity and advertising for the film, with posters reading ‘Witness the resurrection of Mickey Rourke’, but was plain to see for all viewers of the film familiar with the frequently tumultuous relationship Rourke has had with the culture of Hollywood and celebrity.


In my opinion, this is one of the best films of the last few years, and is a must-see for all movie fans. I myself have always hated wrestling, but enjoyed this film immensely and found myself with a newfound respect for those wrestlers who put themselves through this day in, day out in the name of show-business. Characters like that put certain actors and Hollywood stars to shame, though not Rourke, who proves in this film he is one of acting’s greatest talents.
The tagline for the film was ‘Love. Pain. Glory.’ That pretty much sums Rourke up.

The Artist (2011)

Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius

Verdict: Quite frankly, probably my new favourite movie of all time. And I don’t make decisions like that lightly. Visually stunning, totally heart-warming, featuring stand out performances both on and off-screen from cast and crew alike. Genius, utter genius.

I walked out of the cinema half an hour ago, having seen The Artist. And I’ve literally been smiling ever since. As a film student and a general cinema-lover, Hazanavicius is probably as close as I can get to my own version of Einstein.

The concept of making a silent film in homage to the era of silent movies and the classical Hollywood era in itself is incredible. The way the film shifts in and out of the film and the films within the film is sublime, simple and elegant. Watching Jean Dujardin in this masterpiece of a performance as George Valentin is probably the closest I can get today to how those fans felt back in the days of watching Rudolph Valentino and James Dean on the big screen for the first time. This is a career, no, a lifetime-defining role. This is a cinema-defining film.

On the surface, the film starts out like a copy of the old silent films we’ve all admired from a distance. It’s shot in black-and-white, it features occasion inter-title cards with necessary lines of dialogue, and the filmic ration is classic old-Hollywood. But this film is so much more than just a duplicate of the old films.

Okay, so perhaps the final moment, in which *spoiler alert* George speaks at long last was inevitable. Perhaps we all saw it coming. That somehow enhances the magic of this movie. Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo, as George and Peppy Miller respectively, deliver stand-out performances that put most ‘Hollywood’ actors of today to shame. Their subtle shifts between the over-acting of the silent era and their naturalistic performances elsewhere are a joy to behold. And of course, Uggie the dog is utterly superb.

There are those out there who are claiming that parts of The Artist are rip-offs from other films – i.e. the shot/reverse-shot breakfast table sequence, and the well-publicised usage of Bernard Herrmann’s Vertigo score. These are people who obviously missed the point of the film and totally avoided all press both before and after viewing. This may turn into a rant, just to warn you. Citizen Kane is lauded as one of, if not the greatest films ever made. Orson Welles reportedly learned everything he knew about movies and directing them – ergo everything about how to make Citizen Kane, from John Ford’s masterful 1939 Western Stagecoach. Considered one of history’s cinema experts, Francois Truffaut’s début film Les Mistons borrowed extensively from both its original text, and from many other films in the formation of its aesthetic narrative. This is not what cineastes call ‘rip-offs’. This is dedicating your work to other great directors; it’s paying homage to the extraordinary art of the cinema. And that’s everything that The Artist stands for.

Yes, there are countless in-jokes for cinema experts. But those who go to see The Artist knowing nothing of the grand history of motion pictures will be just as blown away by this uplifting, beautiful and utterly un-pretentious film. The film as a whole, along with Hazanavicius, Dujardin, composer Ludovic Bource and Bejo have already been showered with prestigious awards and nominations, and have garnered the most Golden Globes nominations for the ceremony to be held on the 15th January. In my opinion, if Hazanavicius’s masterpiece isn’t recognised and rewarded at The Academy Awards (rightly or wrongly cinema’s most famed awards ceremony) it will be an utter travesty.

I won’t ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen The Artist yet (what are you waiting for? GO NOW!), but there is one moment with a glass and a table that is surely one of the greatest moments of cinema, and certainly the best I’ve personally witnessed in a theatre. Okay, the use of diegetic sound is scarce and The Artist is mostly just moving pictures. But you won’t find another film that is more moving than this. Five stars, a must-see.