Set in the film world of 1920's Hollywood, The Artist tells the story of actor George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) once a great name in the silent movie era, now eclipsed by the on-coming of sound and struggling with being an old star up against new talent Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo).
The big hype about this film is that it is a silent film: it was made with old Black-and-White film cameras and is almost entirely silent, the exact same way films used to be in the 1920's and it is all about how the film industry was changed by the advent of sound, and how actors were torn between newer, flashy sound recordings or loosing out due to fear of this new technology.
Never before has a film been so entertaining on so many levels. As if the sheer idea of this film wasn't enough, there are so many good points about it, I don't know where to start. The story is heart wrenching and moves all audiences from fear to laughter, not to mention it pays homage to several of the old Black-and-White epics from back in the day (one spot was Rescued by Rover). The acting is phenomenal especially when it is measured against the fact that they have to be 'silent' movie actors in an age of sound, and the show is stolen by Valentin's trusty Jack Russell. The whole silent film theme is so powerful that you forget you are in the 21st century for a couple of hours and are sunk into 1920's Hollywood. Probably the only down side was that in order to see this film now you have to see a digital copy instead of hard film reel. It is a film that is impossible to forget and impossible to hate, so everyone go and see this film. Although if you do, bring silent food because it is too easy to make a noise during the screening.
