Harvey Weinstein led the marketing and promotion of the film to make it the winner of Best Picture
The Artist beat out films by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and George Clooney to win top honors at Academy Awards; which is not bad for a silent, French, black-and-white film, and no big-name actors.
Director Michel Hazanavicius's love letter to old Hollywood cinema was the undisputed queen of the industry's biggest night, taking home five Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Actor.
But as The Artist's win for Best Picture - the first silent film to win the award since Wings, at the first Academy Awards in 1929 - a triumph of marketing over art?
For many, the film's Oscar triumph was a foregone conclusion, the result of a marketing process launched months earlier by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who secured US distribution rights even before it was released. the audience at the Cannes film festival swooned over the French film last year.
"There was no question as to who the biggest award winners were going to be," Total Film deputy editor Jamie Graham told. "Harvey is the best in the business at getting that attention at the awards, and it was clear with The Artist two months ago that this was the movie that had the most momentum."
The mercurial film promoter and co-founder of Miramax Films, who is credited with discovering Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino a string of critical and commercial hits including The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, and last year's winner The King's Speech, is famous for harnessing the momentum of his films at the right time, turning waves of publicity into the podium and box office victories.
Jean Dujardin had barely picked up the Best Actor award for his portrayal of silent film celebrity George Valentin at Cannes when Weinstein was already taking the film's actors and directors on a campaign around the awards circuit to capitalize on this surprise success.
Dujardin, walked red carpets around the world as other accolades began to pour in. His costars Berenice Bejo and John Goodman promoted the film in The Magazine, and Uggie, the film's canine celebrity, played dead and performed stunts for the film on major news channels on both sides of the Atlantic.
“People who don't play the game don't tend to win at the Oscars,” Graham said. "You really have to push yourself and go on tour, and for the last three months, his life has been dedicated to that."
Ian Nathan of Empire magazine says by the time the Golden Globe nominations were announced, the race for Oscar glory had been reduced to a two-horse race between George Clooney's Descendants and The Artist; a race that Weinstein's relentless campaign was beginning to win late last year.
“Something about what Harvey was able to do - put these three lovely main characters out there, the director, the dog, show (the movie) everyone that mattered, milk the nostalgia and old Hollywood appeal into it. - elevated her from competitor to favorite long before the show started," Nathan told.
“Once a movie has a foothold - once it's become something like The King's Speech last year—then even Clooney can't compete,” he said.
Weinstein's strength, says Nathan, lies in his ability to catch a "middlingly popular" movie just before it catches on and becomes a favorite.
“He's very good at picking the middle-of-the-line movies…and the Oscars are a massive event that celebrates the best of the average. Harvey has been a very shrewd player at that, and you have to give him that credit. He knows how to plan that over a year," Nathan told.
Although The Artist has been widely successful at the box office, grossing nearly $76 million in worldwide receipts so far (58% outside the United States), the film didn't get much of a box office boost after the nominations were announced. Oscar in January, according to Ian Nathan.
Especially when compared to The King's Speech, which grossed an estimated $415 million worldwide (66% at the international box office), on its way to winning Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director at the 2019 Film Awards. the Academy of 2011.
“It hasn't made the usual money from Oscar blockbusters that The King's Speech did last year,” Nathan said. “It's a silent film, with a French sensibility, and it's harder to sell to audiences. But now that he has all the attention in the world, could that translate to more money?
While the money probably won't add up, Nathan says one thing seems certain: After a relatively dry decade, the back-to-back successes of The King's Speech and The Artist mean Harvey Weinstein is back in business.
“Harvey has come out of his dry years as the man to beat at the Oscars,” he said. “It's like a second chance; he clearly still has a bit of that magic in him.”
