The Artist

When reviewing films that have no line of dialogue, some movie lovers might find it boring. Being someone who hasn't seen that many silent films, I was still fascinated by the concept of films with music but no speaking parts. That is why The Artist had caught my attention from the first time I had heard of the film.

It was the “Golden era” for pictures: 1929. The epoch of the soundless movies that have both dazzled and humored audiences.

Hollywood, 1927: As silent film celebrity George Valentin (Golden Globe winner Jean Dejadin) wonders if the entrance of talking pictures will cause him to die away into oblivion, he sparks in the company of Peppy Miller, a youthful artist set for a huge break.

The Artist has gotten great reviews and it won so many awards, so I just had to check it out, and what I got was a superb masterpiece.

The acting in this is amazing also. Jean Dejardin produces one of the best performances of the year playing Valentin. Considering he doesn't speak one line of dialogue makes his performance more memorable. Berenice Bejo also does a marvelous performance playing the love interest. We also get some American actors here such as John Goodman as the immaculately stereotyped cigar-chomping, braces-pinging studio boss, and James Cromwell delivers a great performance as Clifton, Valentin’s butler. The stealer of the show is not the actors, but the dog. Who knew a dog could be this brilliant?

The cinematography in this is fantastic. The way Hazavanavicus uses the camera work makes for a amazing film. The score uses some of Bernard Herrman’s work in Vertigo, which is a downside to this brilliant piece of art.

The Artist is the best film of 2011 in it’s own right. It is a groundbreaking, fantastic, amazing, brilliant piece of work.