The Artist is a silent film, which, ironically, is causing a quite a stir this award season. Silent film was of course big back in a time when almost inexplicably every film was from the perspective of a deaf person. This was an advance over the previous generation of films exclusively from the perspective of a blind person, or "radio", but there's still something not quite there. That's right, I just ranked disabilities.

The Artist follows the story of George Valentin, the world's biggest silent film star, out-shined only by his dog. One day he bumps into a young female fan, and they appear in the newspaper together. This inspires young Peppy to become an actress, and she does just that. As Peppy is making a name for herself, George finds himself being cut from the studio due to the dawn of the "talkies" demanding new faces. George spirals into depression, and Peppy takes his place at the top. But Peppy is a nice girl and remembers what George did for her, and just as he's about to hit rock bottom, she helps him get back on his feet. Then there's dancing.

Since there is very little dialogue in the film, there's a shit-ton of music, and it's good music. It captures the mood on screen, and doesn't forget the era that it's referencing. The performances are great too. Both George and Peppy are brilliant, and it just goes to show how little words mean when you have a functioning face.

Obviously, back in the day, films were silent due to technological limitations, so The Artist is stylistically silent. Now before you silent film puritans (Any still alive?) get in a tizzy because there is sound in parts, remember the fact that it's silent by choice. It does a very good job of using the format though, by making the rare instances of sound more significant, and also using the dialogue captions to create humour and trick the audience at times.

The lack of dialogue can get frustrating, which causes the film to drag, particularly around the middle when there isn't really anything interesting happening. Where's the fun in watching a man sink into deep depression if you can't hear him cry?

Overall, I enjoyed it, despite it being dull at times. It's a nice story, sprinkled with humour, and a very well made film. I'm just happy that something so different is making it big in the mainstream.

Meanwhile, in Liverpool, cinema goers have been asking for refunds due to the lack of dialogue. Yup, that's the world we live in. A world where people are so stupid that it makes headlines, and Scousers have statutory rights.