This French film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards. As far as the average North American moviegoer goes, it was perhaps a bit high concept. To begin with, there were no violent explosions and other forms of carnage. Or inane potty humour. In fact, there was no dialogue at all.

Directed by Michel Hazanavicius,  The Artist is set in the late 1920s and early ’30s when films were transitioning from silent to “talkie” status. That dynamic is represented by actors Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo. The former plays an aging star of the silent age, while the latter plays a young beauty who blossoms into a star in glamorous Hollywood-style musicals.

The Artist screens at the RPL Theatre tonight and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Friday and Sunday at 9 p.m. Here’s the trailer.