Jean Dujardin - A Valentin on Valentine's Day

Jean Dujardin (center) in
"OSS 117: Lost in Rio"

If you didn't know who Jean Dujardin was before 2012, you have no excuse not to know who he is now. Dujardin is the French comedic actor who movie buffs know from his James Bond spoofs, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) and OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009), but the movie that put him on the map was the black-and-white, silent film The Artist. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Dujardin.

Jean Dujardin has already won Best Actor at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. He won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. He won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role and he recently won the BAFTA Film Award for Best Leading Actor.

Many people have remarked how good-looking Dujardin is. Dana Stevens of Slate calls him "impossibly charming." Others have commented on his "irresistible smile." I even named him as one of the sexiest stars of the year. What some people have not commented on is his body. The 39-year-old is actually in great shape and for those who are interested he actually goes nude and shows it off.

In OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, Dujardin had some pretty silly beach scenes where he rolled around with a guy in nothing but a speedo, essentially. Apparently, people liked what they saw in these instances, so, for the sequel, the director Michel Hazanavicius decided to capitalize off it. What we get is a vanity shot of Dujardin walking poolside, catching glances from every woman he passes.

Hazanavicius has fun with split screens for this sequence.

 

Dujardin has great form. He's very smooth and very suave. Then, we get to the orgy scene!

Yes, you are reading the subtitle correctly. Dujardin says, "A finger up the butt..." Why does he say this? You might ask. The answer is that right before this moment, you see images of a man with his hand on someone's naked butt cheek. It's close-up shots. We zoom out to reveal.

Check out the right edge of the frame and it's clear that everybody, even men, want a piece of Dujardin.

This image of Dujardin as his titular character in The Artist, George Valentin, is the image most people will see and remember years from now. Of course, I recognize that Valentin is one letter short of Valentine, and, as I post the blog on Valentine's Day 2012, I'd like to submit that Dujardin himself is a valentine for the film world.