Movie Review: The Artist

Movies about movies are an exciting meta experiment, aren't they not? India had its own meta moment most recently with The Dirty Picture, but director Michel Hazanavicius, in The Artist, offers a splendid, if a little predictable, throwback to the movies of the late 20's, where in began the so-called golden age of Hollywood - the period when silent films ruled before they made way for talkies, all the while tracing the downfall of a popular silent movie star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and his attempts to find his feet once again, even as Peppy Miller's (Bérénice Bejo) unexpected rise to stardom as the talkie era commences forges an unlikely bond between the two. With title cards, pantomimes and resounding jazzy backgrounds, The Artist is literally a trip down memory lane, deserving a watch for its excellent lead performances and sound production values.