The Director Michel Hazanavicius wanted to show the audience by telling them the story of how the silent era became talkies. In the beginning of film, we see George Valentin retrained, the title slide that reads ... I won't talk! I won't say a word! ... This is a clear indication of a person (or a film company) refuses to accept change into modern era of technology - using sound. = Changing of the times. At first, I almost believed this was Based on Ture story, in way it is. About the industry. End of the film The reason why Michel Hazanavicius wanted to included sound and dance is to show the being of a new cinema era. My own view I quite enjoyed it, I did like how the technology of using wipes, such as Inside of Circle of scene, while outside circle is blackout.

This is a good movie, but it typically one that is overrated because it shows some kind of class, intellect and refinement to proclaim itself as genius. The production starts with 3 strikes against it. First, at times, it is a movie within a movie. Second, it is in black and white, and third, it is mostly all silent. With all the rave, I was willing to attempt an open mind viewing (zombie films are sometimes in black and white too).These techniques were done to to give us the flavor of the films of the era. Even though those restored masters are available, who among the 5 star rave reviewers watch them? You could list them on one hand, or maybe one finger. In the silent era, the jokes were visual. The sound track created the mood, more so than it does today, and actors had to make dramatic movements to create emotions. They used their face...a term called "mugging" in the film. This was brilliantly brought out in the film, although we already knew that.The film uses symbolism, such as when our star George Valentin's (Jean Dujardin)career is sinking, it shows him in a film sinking in quicksand. Good yes. Genius? Hardly. The script reminded me of "A Star is Born" (pick one) where a star launches the career of a new star only to see his fade. George is "The Artist" who believes talkies are not art. Besides the studio no longer wants George. They want fresh faces such as rising star Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo).I liked the idea of doing the silent movie film to show us the transition from silent to talkies, I just didn't like the predictable script. Plot is important.No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. You should be able to read lips after this film.

An amazing blend of current stars and past talent combined into the perfect cast. Elegance brushed into cinematic brilliance, weaves together an engaging story without color. Every scene is a painting, as the audience is given a tour of how film was and should be. This classic will forever be the last great film of the century.

Advancing age and retreating inhibitions have made me liable to cry at the movies and honestly, sometimes a tad more than I would like. But The Artist is one of those 'once in a blue moon' movies that leave you with tears of joy streaming down your cheek. An exquisitely judged, gloriously funny and achingly tender film by the French director Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist is a flawless pearl. The debonair comedy and pastiche are worn with airy lightness; the romance is gentle and yet unexpectedly passionate. There have been 'accusations' that The Artist is an homage, splendid still, to the silent era. But I feel that it is so much more; no, to paraphrase, I believe it is much, much less and calling it an homage is an over-complication and an insult to its simplistic charm. The Artist ,despite all the appearances, is at its heart an utterly beguiling love story and a miracle of entertainment. And this (glorified, if I may say so) paradigm shift that ushered in the talkies serves as a mere subplot, whose only major relevance strikes up from the ramifications on the initially playful romance that is shared by George Valentin and Peppy Miller. However, The Artist, in its own insouciant way, also touches on the debate whether the magic of the celluloid was purer in silence. The leads, both Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo are pitch perfect(if such a term may be associated with silent cinema) in their roles as the embodiments of the two 'clashing' ages in the history of cinema.Valentin, and by extension Dujardin, is every inch the silent-movie icon: his hair slick, his eyebrows meticulous, his moustache finely traced and his jawline a perfect trapezium. Bérénice Bejo also deserves some accolades because she succeeded in looking so "old" from our POV yet so fresh and modern in the film, with the appealing feel-good and optimistic attitude she constantly brings on screen. With her doll-face and youngish smile, she's like a cute little girl enjoying what she does. In a way, Peppy Miller embodies the film's most inspirational element: a positive message about passion and enjoyment. And this indirectly highlights George's source of troubles: being deprived of what he enjoyed the most and suffering from his progressive fading into oblivion. The cinematography of this movie is an art on its own. It is a treat to the eyes. The Artist is itself a silent movie and like its age- old predecessors, it expresses more than a million words could say. Rather than being a celebration of color and sound, it is, in small ways, a eulogy for monochrome and silence.It will, in our age of mindless action, 3D blockbusters and multi- million-dollar budgets, remind film-makers and audiences of the many wonderful qualities cinema has largely lost: elegance, beauty and heartfelt emotion.Drained of colour and sounds, The Artist might just be moving pictures, but they seldom make pictures as moving as this one. The only flaw is that the entire movie felt a bit abrupt, perhaps a characteristic of the silent era itself, I felt that somehow the movie rushed through to the end. Truly a masterpiece.