The premier piece of art of 2011!

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2011)

No one can silence me on expressing my jubilant emotion on the silent masterpiece modern movie "The Artist". It is pure artistry. So therefore, I have to voice that to me it is the best movie of 2011; and I am not the only who has been vociferous with that sentiment. "The Artist" stars a brilliant Jean Dujardin as silent movie star George Valentin. During the silent movie era of Hollywood, everyday was Valentine's Day for Valentin as he was admired & loved as that era's supreme movie star. Valentin was confident, charismatic, determined, and pretty much a pure silent showman. However, it was all the future talk that ended up ruining Valentin's career. When the silent movie days of Hollywood dwindled, and the talkies became the talk of Tinseltown, Valentin became a movie face of the past. After Valentin gets booted by the movie studio he was under contract with for many years, he decides to keep the silence alive by developing a silent film which he produces, directs, and stars in. When that experiment bombed, all kept spiraling downwards for poor Silent George; he loses his house, his wife, his fame, and even to a certain extent his legacy. At the same time- Peppy Miller, an aspiring actress which George had given her first break by briefly appearing in one of his last silent movies, becomes a megastar in the new Hollywood talkies. I guess one can say that her Peppy Talk was the talk of Hollywood. George and Peppy's careers go through opposite pathways, even though Peppy continues to admire George even throughout all his trials & tribulations. The epitome of man's best friend has to be George's cerebral dog who is not only George's pooch confidant but eventually his savior. Director Michel Hazanivicius' orchestration of "The Artist' is one for the ages and for all ages. He is able to formulate a wondrous silent movie in modern times and to make it as magnetic and enticing as it is was simply movie magic. It is the best direction of the year and it will be very hazardous if Hazanivicius does not garner a Best Director Oscar. Moreover, the vicious Hazanivicius also pulls of another cinematic impossible- scribing a spectacular and lively screenplay to a modern silent film; translation= Another Oscar. There is a lot to love about Dujardin's expressive starring performance as Valentin. Dujardin is definitely due a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Berenice Bejo was very nice with her stellar work as Peppy Miller, there is no doubt that Bejo won't be to lejo of the Kodak Theatre come Oscar time; she is a shoe-in for a Best Supporting Actress nomination. "The Artist" also got more support from the great "silent but medley" performances of John Goodman as the studio mogul, James Cromwell as George's chauffeur, and Penelope Ann Miller as Mrs. Valentin. Another guiding force in "The Artist" was the grand musical score of the flick orchestrated by Ludovic Bource. The Bource Musical Identity was of Bource Supremacy and the sound of this music should rejoice in the Oscar mountaintops with an Academy Award for Best Movie Score. Many have called "The Artist" a love letter to "old school" Hollywood. And yes I do concur with that analysis, but the new school of Hollywood should reward "The Artist" as the movie valedictorian of the year 2011. So go ahead and. enjoy the silence! ***** Excellent