The Artist (2011)
90%RT Audience Score: 87%
Awards & Nominations: Won 5 Oscars
162 wins & 204 nominations total
A crowd-pleasing tribute to the magic of silent cinema, The Artist is a clever, joyous film with delightful performances and visual style to spare.
The Artist is a movie that will make you laugh, cry, and appreciate the history of cinema all at once. It’s a love letter to the silent film era, complete with a charming dog and a leading man who oozes old Hollywood charisma. Jean Dujardin is a revelation, and his chemistry with Bérénice Bejo is electric. The black and white cinematography is stunning, and the score is pitch-perfect. It’s a film that will transport you to another time and leave you with a smile on your face. Plus, did I mention the dog? Seriously, that dog deserves an Oscar.
Production Company(ies)
Bryna Productions,
Distributor
Weinstein Co.
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Bradbury Building – 304 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for a disturbing image and a crude gesture
Year of Release
2012
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby Digital DTSS DDS
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Aspect ratio:1.33 : 1
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Runtime:1h 40m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 23, 2011 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 24, 2012
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Missi Pyle, directed by Michel Hazanavicius, written by Michel Hazanavicius, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Tara Brady, Candice Frederick, Christopher Kelly, Anna Smith, Robbie Collin, Jonathan Romney, James Wegg, Kent Garrison, PJ Nabarro, Patrick Nabarro, PG-13, silent cinema, sound in movies, matinee idol, ingenue, falling in love, cheating, wife, actress, popularity, fading career, rising star, Weinstein Co., Thomas Langmann, 1920s, black and white, visual style, audience score, Tomatometer, critic reviews, audience reviews, homage, metafilm, silent movies, talkies, Douglas Fairbanks, Lillian Gish, Uggy, canine performance, Blancanieves, horror movies, MCU movies, Netflix series, TV shows, streaming movies, box office, theaters, limited release, streaming release, distributor, producer
Worldwide gross: $133,432,856
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $172,024,897
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 777
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 18,759,531
US/Canada gross: $44,671,682
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $57,591,824
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,017
US/Canada opening weekend: $204,878
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $264,134
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,576
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $15,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $19,338,366
Production budget ranking: 1,382
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $10,413,710
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $142,272,821
ROI to date (est.): 478%
ROI ranking: 269
Bérénice Bejo – Peppy Miller
John Goodman – Al Zimmer
James Cromwell – Clifton
Penelope Ann Miller – Doris
Missi Pyle – Constance
Director(s)
Michel Hazanavicius
Writer(s)
Michel Hazanavicius
Producer(s)
Thomas Langmann
Film Festivals
Cannes, Telluride
Awards & Nominations
Won 5 Oscars
162 wins & 204 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Costume Design Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Directing Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures Winners, Oscar Best Picture Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Original Score Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (323) | Top Critics (81) | Fresh (307) | Rotten (16)
The fiction, ultimately, is the thing. The Artist, in the best possible sense, is more of a movie than a film. It’s played for laughs and tears; it switches from action to tenderness; it’s got a really funny dog.
February 20, 2019
Tara Brady
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
The Artist is simply a pleasure to watch, if only for just two hours in time.
September 8, 2017 | Rating: A-
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
Michel Hazanavicius’ black-and-white, mostly silent comedy The Artist is a gorgeously made curiosity — a film that functions as a testament to its own obsession with other movies.
February 17, 2015
Christopher Kelly
Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com
TOP CRITIC
Uplifting, heart-warming, hilarious… not necessarily words you’d expect to apply to a black and white silent French film. But The Artist is no ordinary movie.
February 17, 2015 | Rating: 5/5
Anna Smith
Daily Mirror (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The Artist is drunk on the history of cinema and art, and culture buffs will get giddy on it.
February 17, 2015 | Rating: 5/5
Robbie Collin
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Retro but totally modern, frivolous yet fundamentally serious, The Artist is a thing of grace and joy and a great American film — of the sort it takes the French to make.
February 17, 2015
Jonathan Romney
Independent on Sunday
TOP CRITIC
Words defeat me
May 8, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
James Wegg
JWR
The Artist holds up as a great technical achievement, but that’s about it.
December 26, 2021 | Rating: A-
Kent Garrison
Mad About Movies Podcast
Hazanavicius deserves credit for making his thesis on silent movies so digestible and entertaining, and there is much to engage with in The Artist.
October 25, 2021 | Rating: 3/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro
Jean Dujardin is like flashbulbs bursting in your eyeballs. He’s every inch the movie star the movie demands and then sixteen swaggering steps further. Total hammy megawatted perfection.
July 2, 2021
Jason Adams
My New Plaid Pants
Much care has been given to the look of the film. But its originality and effort stop there.
February 28, 2021
Joanne Laurier
World Socialist Web Site
The experiment in recreating a silent motion picture is superbly realized.
November 30, 2020 | Rating: 10/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins…
Plot
In the 1920s, a silent film actor named George Valentin falls in love with an up-and-coming actress named Peppy Miller, but their careers take different paths as sound in movies becomes popular.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Jean Dujardin’s performance in The Artist is described as “total hammy megawatted perfection.”
Michel-Hazanavicius.jpg
