Critics hail The Artist ‘Best Film’

THE Artist has scooped the Critic’s Choice award for Best Film.

The accolade, presented in Los Angeles, is another feather in the cap of the French-made film, which is tipped for Oscar success.

It was given by the Broadcast Critics’ Association, the largest body for American an Canadian film critics.

The Artist – which is silent and black and white – is also nominated for six Golden Globes, to be awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Sunday.

Thanks to the film’s success with the British and American critics it is to have another French release, with a new advertising campaign at the end of this month.

Following its original release three months ago it has seen 1.5 million entries at the box office – a respectable figure but modest compared to the hit comedy Intouchables, at 17.6 million.