An almost perfect movie, even though silent

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2011)

French director Michel Hazanavicius's beautifully self-contained film manages both to pay homage to the style and structure of silent films while still telling a fresh and warm story that succeeds as a modern film on its own merit. It is a silent movie not just in the absence of dialogue but in the entirety of its look and feel, and that makes it all that much better. Everything worked: the titles (in English), the squarer screen aspect, the music, and the acting.
The homage is never less than respectful. It succeeds in being charming, funny, melancholy, and sweet all without being derivative or striking a false note. And by setting the story at the end of the silent era and the transition to talkies, The Artist becomes a wonderful complement to Singing in the Rain.
Jean Dujardin, who won the Best Actor award at Cannes, could easily earn a Best Actor Oscar nomination. As the silent film "artist" who glides through his life, he is smooth, stylish, amusing, and amused. And as the film moves forward in time, his characterization remains compelling. Bérénice Bejo, Hazanavicius's wife and collaborator, is almost his equal as the young "peppy" ingénue ready to launch her career. John Goodman is equally good as the head of their studio.
I say "almost perfect" because I thought the director could have cut six to ten minutes from the movie's second half. But that's a small nit to pick. This is an outstanding film. I don't see many movies more than once, but this is one I will.