Movie · 2011 · Drama, Comedy, Romance · 1h 40m · PG-13 · French
Curator score: 7.9/10 (426.3K ratings)
A breath of fresh vintage air.
Overview
Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.9/10
IMDb: 7.8/10
Letterboxd: 3.77/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Metacritic: 89
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Michel Hazanavicius
Production
uFilm, La Petite Reine, Studio 37, La Classe américaine, JD Prod, France 3 Cinéma
Cast
Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Missi Pyle, Beth Grant, Ed Lauter, Joel Murray, Elizabeth Tulloch, Ken Davitian, Malcolm McDowell, Basil Hoffman, Bill Fagerbakke, Nina Siemaszko, Stephen Mendillo, Dash Pomerantz, Beau Nelson, Alex Holliday, Wiley M. Pickett
Where to watch
Philo
Curator Review
Verdict
A charming, technically inventive tribute to silent-era Hollywood that balances romance, comedy, and melancholy with real style. It’s lighter and more sentimental than its awards haul suggests, but the craft, performances, and visual storytelling make it an easy recommendation for viewers open to a nostalgia piece.
Best for
fans of silent cinema and film history
viewers who enjoy elegant visual storytelling
romantic dramedy audiences
people who like awards-era prestige films with a playful streak
movie lovers drawn to Hollywood-about-Hollywood stories
Skip if
you want fast-paced dialogue-driven drama
you dislike sentimental or nostalgic filmmaking
you prefer gritty realism over stylized homage
you’re impatient with films built around formal gimmicks
Overview
The Artist is a rare modern film that treats silence not as a novelty but as a language. It uses gesture, framing, and musical rhythm to tell a very simple story with genuine grace, and that commitment gives the film its appeal even when the emotional beats are broad or familiar.
Worth noting
What lingers most is the confidence of the craft: the black-and-white imagery, the expressive performances, and the way the film turns old Hollywood into both a fantasy and a warning. It can feel a little too cute for its own good, but it is never careless.
Bottom line
If you respond to cinema as an art form, this is an easy watch. If you need sharper drama or more complexity, it may feel slight, but as a tribute to a vanished mode of filmmaking, it lands with real charm.
Top Letterboxd reviews
hunter strawberry (4★) · 881 likes
is it better to speak or to die?
SilentDawn (3★) · 835 likes
55
This is definitely one of the more 'forgotten' best picture winners of the 21st Century. People don't really talk about it, although not necessarily because it's bad. The Artist is a cute and funny silent homage, but it's a little too fluffy, and it often feels like one of those "fake" movies that are shown within a movie, only extended to feature length. I enjoy it, mainly because of the dog.
DirkH (2★) · 511 likes
Boy, was I disappointed.
I was looking forward to this film, of course fuelled by the hype surrounding it, the Oscar nominations it got and the prizes it had already won. For me it was merely a gimmicky, thinly stretched exercise in style.
Now don't get me wrong, I really appreciate what they were trying to do here. Anyone who wants to make an ode to cinema has got my vote and I applaud them for that. I just feel… more
Twan (4★) · 511 likes
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sawah 🦖 (3.5★) · 451 likes
I think my volume was broken because I couldn’t hear anything
1925 · Adventure, Comedy, Drama · 1h 35m · NR · Curator 9.3/10 (225.7K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, History Vault, Eternal Family, Max, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A silent-era masterwork that showcases the expressive physical comedy and visual invention The Artist celebrates.