The Artist (2011)

The Artist is a charming, bittersweet comedy-drama set at the end of the silent-film era. You follow George Valentin, a swaggering matinee idol whose carefully staged world begins to unravel when he literally bumps into Peppy Miller, an enthusiastic young dancer whose career quickly rises as the industry shifts to talking pictures. As Peppy becomes a new screen star, George’s refusal to embrace the “talkies” leads to professional decline, personal hardship, and a poignant struggle to find his place in a changing Hollywood. Watching the film is a deliberately cinematic experience: it is presented mostly in black-and-white and in the style of a silent picture, relying on expressive performances, physical comedy, intertitles and a rich musical score to carry emotion and narrative. Expect playful, funny moments and skilfully staged visual gags, balanced by tender, melancholic scenes as the story moves from glamour and fame to loss and quiet redemption. Overall, The Artist is both an affectionate homage to early cinema and an intimate human drama. Viewers will be swept up in the romance, moved by the fall-and-rise arc, and likely to come away nostalgic for the era—while appreciating how much storytelling can be accomplished without spoken dialogue.

Actors: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman

Director: Michel Hazanavicius

Runtime: 100 min

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance

7.6 /10 89 /100 7.9 /10 8.1 /10