The Artist serves as both a beautiful homage to silent films and a modern reinvention

Director Michel Hazanavicius' movie The Artist is a beautiful story about love, pride and desperation. Released originally in 2011, it has won a wide variety of international awards, including Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival and Best Motion PictureñMusical or Comedy at the Golden Globes. The Artistpays due respect to the film industry's rich history and gives new life to an almost ancient type of movie—it's silent.

The Artistis a silent film about silent films. It follows the decline of a silent movie star, George Valentin, as the arrival of the "talkies" threatens his career and his pride. George is forced to watch Peppy Miller, an adorable young girl who started off as an extra in his movies, enter the spotlight as he is pushed out of it.

Actor Jean Dujardin plays the handsome, suave, pathetically proud George Valentin. George's counterpart, Peppy Miller, is played by the beautiful actress Berenice Bejo. Both actors gave an impressive silent performance and had real chemistry throughout all of their characters' awkward and emotional encounters.

Seeing a silent film is certainly a different experience altogether. It can be a little confusing for those of us born in the last 80 years, who are accustomed to the deafening cries and bursts of laughter that "talkies" are known for.

In the beginning scene, for example, a movie theater full of people are all watching George Valentin's latest movie. When that movie ends, the camera cuts to a shot of George behind the screen, waiting expectantly. He suddenly begins to smile, and it took me a few seconds to realize he was hearing something we didn't—the crowd's applause.

This movie is different from a "talkie," but the difference isn't all bad. True, in place of spoken dialogue there are title cards to read and a good deal of pantomime, and silent films are always in black and white. The characters' personalities have to be felt out through their actions: George's conceit is visible from the very beginning when he continues to run on stage for more applause, for example, and Peppy's crush on George is apparent through the way she behaves alone in his dressing room.

With all of the moviemaking technology available today, it may seem like Hazanavicius was foolishly taking a step backwards. The director's choices, however, add a dramatic, nostalgic element to the movie that only makes it better.

The Artist's style alludes to some of the great movies of the past, and, in doing so, pays these movies great respect. One scene in particular, a montage in which George and his wife sit together at the breakfast table on several different mornings, calls back to the depressing breakfast montage in Citizen Kaneand Kane's rapidly deteriorating marriage. This scene was depressing with a twist, however: George picks up his dog one morning and puts him on the table, mimicking his dog's actions and trying—unsuccessfully—to make his wife laugh. She is too preoccupied reading about George and Peppy in the newspaper. This reference to Citizen Kane, which has been called the greatest movie of all time, was very fitting for The Artist.

The humor is a little more modern in The Artistthan in these old classics and can still appeal to today's audience. George's costar in the opening scene gives him the middle finger for being an attention-hogging jerk, and later, when George's wife grows resentful toward him, she draws moustaches, glasses and blacked-out teeth on his perfectly coifed headshots.

For this reason and many more, The Artistdoes more than just pay homage to the history of film. It is a funny, sad, romantic, endearing story without too much dialogue.

Spoiler alert: there issound during a few parts of the movie. Oddly enough, though, when I heard George's glass clink the first time, I wished the movie would stay silent, and I was glad most of the movie was. There's something about seeing Peppy pine quietly for George and watching George fade into a has-been in silence that makes their feelings stronger and more relatable. The movie didn't need words.

If you're not the kind of person who hates black and white or silent movies, if you're willing to try something new (or old, rather), then The Artistis worth seeing at least once.