The Artist is about a silent movie star named George Valentin whose fame has declined with the rise of films with sound. The movie mostly follows his struggling decline, to him just trying to survive.

Note: I’m probably going to come off pretentious as fuck in this review, but really, it was the “pretentious” things that made this movie for me.

I’m gonna try to not talk forever about this, but this movie was fantastic.  

It was nominated for 10 Oscars, and won 5 (Actor in a leading role, Best Picture, Costume Design, Directing, and Music [Original Score]). 

Now, with the film being silent, it was left to the actors to perform extraordinary to portray what they’re feeling, rather than it all being said. They did a fantastic job.  Jean Dujardin did amazingly, as did Berenice Bejo. James Cromwell did great as Clifton.

The soundtrack was outstanding. Seeing as it was the most you heard throughout the entire thing, it had to be good.  I think if the soundtrack were not well done, this movie would have been a lot less enjoyable.  It did a great job at recreating the music of the period, and helping convey the emotion of the film.

On that note, the directing was also fantastic. The nightmare scene where he could only hear things and not speak was fantastic, and the end was excellent. Not to mention the choice to shoot it in 4:3? I always approve of that idea, if for the right reason (see: Fishtank). I loved the characters, especially Peppy. She was too adorable. I don’t see how she didn’t win best actress in a supporting role, though. She was fantastic.  On the other hand, I haven’t seen The Help, so I can’t speak much on Octavia Spencer’s behalf. 

Lastly, the aesthetics. This did an amazing job at recreating the cars, clothing, and over all feel of the late twenties/early thirties. I want to drive ALL the cars. I could actually point out what a few of the cars were, so that shoes how well they did at replicating the cars at least.  I think their use of the Parisian font was a bit over-exaggerated, but used well enough. At the beginning, Peppy was the perfect example of twenties clothing. Obviously as the years passed, the clothing progressed as well.  The hair was accurate. The houses, etc. were beautiful.  The aesthetics were seriously legit.

All in all, this movie was fantastic. I know a lot of people are complaining about how it’s a pretentious pile of shit, and it only won because it was a silent film, etc, but it really was a fantastic movie. I want to watch it again.