At The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall this week: Prepare to be rendered speechless by 'The Artist'

The award favourites season as well concludes this week with the big one, the leader of the pack, the one that has had critics and audiences singing its praises ever since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and has emerged as THE front runner in almost every major award category at this years main ceremonies. It can only be Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist - a cinematic love letter to the silent era of the late 20s/early 30s, with the film itself largely silent (bar the musical score of course) and presented in both black and white and in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio. It doesn't get any more authentic than that.


The year is 1927 and the place is Hollywood. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent movie superstar who is attending the premiere of his latest film A Russian Affair. Amongst the hubbub of a red carpet photo shoot, packed with photographers and adoring fans, Valentin accidentally bumps into a young woman, Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) reacting graciously, which sends the photographers into a frenzy. As an aspiring actress herself, Peppy decides to audition for a role in Valentin's next production. Upon spotting her, he insists to the studio boss Al Zimmer (John Goodman) that she should be in the movie, despite Zimmer's initial reservations. With a little guidance from Valentin, Peppy begins to slowly flourish as an actress landing several significant movie roles. Two years later the advent of the talkies sounds the death knell for both silent film production and sees George Valentin's career fall into oblivion. For Peppy Miler on the other hand it seems the sky's the limit - major movie stardom awaits. The Artist ultimately tells the story of their interlinked destinies.


What was simply a dream of director Hazanavicius, to create a silent film in admiration of his idols who themselves were silent filmmakers, has now turned into one of the biggest cinema success stories in recent history. Following painstaking research into the silent film era, ensuring that all the technical details such as lighting, camera moves and lenses were just right (even down to reducing the frame rate), the film went opened to huge critical acclaim, none more so than from The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw who wrote "The film had me on my feet cheering throughout the final credits... I can't wait to see it again." The critical success would then only be later matched if not exceeded by the abundance of award wins from the likes of Critics Choice, London & New York Critics Circle, Cannes Film Festival, Golden Globes and most recently the BAFTAs with wins in most if not all of these categories: Best Film, Best Director (Michel Hazanvicinus), Best Actor (Jean Dujardin) Best Actress (Berenice Bejo), Best Original Screenplay, Best Score, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing and not forgetting Best Dog (Uggie) or as it is awarded in Cannes...the Palm D'og. It is certainly one of the best performances by an animal this year, if not within the last decade. If you are wondering however whether all these wins are truly deserved the answer is simple: YES. Not only does it present itself as a crowd-pleasing tribute to a long lost cinematic era, it is an extremely clever and absolutely joyous film providing delightful performances and visual style to spare.


Poised to steal the show at this year's Academy Awards (Sunday 26th Feb- coverage on Sky Movies Premiere) with a staggering 10 nominationsacross the board, don't miss your chance to see what is without question the best film of 2012 so far.


Check out the trailer below:

The Artist (PG) runs from Friday 24th Feb - Thursday 1st March 2012.