Review of The Artist (2011) by Billy H — 15 Feb 2017

I loved this movie the first time I saw it in theaters, and I still loved it the second time I saw it, nearly six years later. Michel Hazanavicius writes and directs a masterpiece that throws movie fans back to the silent film era, while guiding them through a story about one silent film actor becoming a victim of the transition to "talkies," and a fledgling actress who, by way of contrast, takes advantage of the opportunity to partake in the cinematic revolution of film's marriage to sound.

As one could expect, their lives take two different and opposite turns, though they also intersect with each other throughout, both in their interactions with each other and the life and times that each character witnesses via the rough-and-tumble world of the movies around the Stock Market Crash.

A wonderful story of fate and destiny, told by human emotion and drama, while actual dialogue takes a supporting role, supported throughout by Ludovic Bource's fantastic score. Within today's lens of technological achievement, including the mile-a-minute advances replacing those forgotten or left behind, the silent film era's decline was more than a transition in cinema; it was also a prophecy for the human costs and consequences of modernity's progress, and to consider this film historical drama would not be too inaccurate in that context.

A must-watch for all movie fans. 5 out of 5 stars.