Movies

Throw any reservations about seeing a dusty old silent film out the door: The Artist is a toe-tapping, heart-tugging, laugh-inducing spectacle, both an ode to old Hollywood and a beguiling love story with a knowing wink at 21st century audiences.

French director Michel Hazanivicius uses the conventions of silent cinema to tell a story about its last hurrah with the advent of talking pictures in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Pencil-moustached debonair movie star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) can do no wrong in the public's eyes, much to the ire of his spiteful wife Doris (Penelope Anne Miller) and studio boss Al Zimmer (John Goodman). Rising starlet Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) makes an impression on Valentin, but as her career in talking films takes off, Valentin struggles to keep up. Can the artist return to greatness and win the girl he really loves?

Hazanivicius approaches the topic with infectious glee and incredible detail. His love for classic Hollywood beams off the screen – film buffs will have a lot of fun picking references, while casual filmgoers will appreciate the quaint charm of yesteryear.

In luminous black and white, The Artist displays a lot more colour than any of your CGI-on-steroids blockbusters. The brilliant score highlights the power music has to insinuate emotion in place of language, and the actors' expressions are nuanced without being ridiculous, so you easily forget about the need for dialogue.

The actors are having such a ball you can't help but go along for the ride. Dujardin, a dead-ringer for Douglas Fairbanks or Gene Kelly, is a revelation; Bejo is equally enchanting, while Uggi the Jack Russell terrier almost steals the movie.

The only gripe I have with The Artist is that it doesn't say anything new about the silent-to-talkie transition. Everything has already been said in the funnier Singin' in the Rain. Plus, the plot is ripped straight from A Star is Born ... but you could say it's all part of the 'homage'.

Even so, it's rare to see a movie worthy of being called a 'modern classic' the moment it hits cinemas.