I wanted to like The Artist more than I did. I love silent movies and I was excited to see this Best Picture winner. However, I may have built it up too much in my mind. It's enjoyable, but it didn't grab me like I expected it to. The cast does a great job, the visuals are beautiful and I love the references and homages to the silent era. The story, however, is overly simplistic and it seems to drag. It may have been my fault, though, I watched it when I was tired -- never a good idea.

Jean Dujardin is disarming, so charismatic. Bérénice Bejo? Stunning!

I'll be short and unusually sweet.I like the way this movie was made. I like it even more that others have not tried to replicate it since (so far). I'll keep my 'talkies' thank you very much.From a technical side, the 'full screen' aspect ratio didn't take too long to get used to, in part because the film itself didn't take too long to get into. The design of the picture, everything about it, brings you back and allows you to believe. That's the great thing about movies, they can carry you to a time and era you've never experienced just so you can experience it.I noticed right away how 'plain' the set decoration and lighting were back then. It would pain me to light a project like this because it's so simple and dull. The DP, Guillaume Schiffman, did do a fantastic job, and like the actors, had to learn a new technique to do his job I'm sure. It's so simple, it works on every level.About half way through I began to realize how difficult acting in a silent film really is. As an actor in a silent picture you have to work really hard at getting your point across to the audience in actions, and not words; "mugging" as character Peppy Miller puts it. In saying that, the actors in this film would have had to train a little differently at being a silent film actor because all they've ever known are 'talkies' and their training as actors follow that basic necessity of today's movies - sound! In today's world, acting is more than just movement.The Oscar for Best Picture is well deserved. Although this isn't a movie I'll watch over and over, it was a nice switch.

Despite finding her sparkling in Populaire and magnificent in The Past since first catching a glimpse in the mutant monster pigs Horror flick Proie,I've never seen Bérénice Bejo in her most famous film. Looking at the Christmas listings,I was pleased to spot the BBC airing the Oscar winner,which led to me listening in on the silence.The plot:1927:At the unveiling of his new blockbuster.movie star auteur George Valentin bumps into Peppy Miller,who he poses with for the press.Seeing her face on the front page,Miller pushes forward to become a star in Hollywood,with a studio soon teaming her up with Valentin. Being the icon of Silent cinema, Valentin can hear nothing on the horizon, until a studio head catches Valentin off- guard with the air-raid siren of the "talkies."View on the film:Tap dancing onto the screen,the beautiful Bérénice Bejo gives a magnetic performance as Miller,thanks to Bejo juggling a sweet empathy towards Valentin to stay on the billboard,with a pure,classic Hollywood glamour Bejo shakes out during the stylish movie-within a movie sequences.Becoming the biggest name in cinema with his grand visions, Jean Dujardin gives a wondrous performance as Valentin, brimming with the near-mythical confidence of the Hollywood legends,which Dujardin impressively threads with a fragility of Valentin's star fading. Whilst James Cromwell & John Goodman make snappy appearances,the late, adorable Uggie runs rings round the feet of the mere humans as the scene-stealing dog.Reuniting with his wife Bejo after bringing the OSS series back,writer/director Michel Hazanavicius lovingly presents a sweet tribute to the Silent era,that can also proudly stand as its own creation. Offering tantalising glimpses to the power Valentin reels, Hazanavicius places Miller and Valentin on the dividing lines of cinema,via Valentin seeing his Silent cinema as (popular) art,and Miller's "talkies" as a plaything for the studios. Hearing the tide begin to turn, Hazanavicius brings the change smartly in focus for Valentin,but keeps a light flicking in the darkness to deliver a shimmering,toe-tapping final,as the artist re-discovers his art.