France - Year 1915. WWI had just broken out. The nation is in chaos. Yet none of this turmoil is shown in Gilles Bourdot film "Renoir".
The audience is first introduced to ravishing Andrée, who in search for work, cycles to artist Renoir´s estate in the French Riviera. The beautiful light Bourdot manages to capture set the tone right throughout the movie.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir is shown for the first time sat in his wheel chair. His long grey beard makes him look very old. Andrée and the artist agree - she will pose for his painting.
The plot line was driven on with the introduction of Auguste´s son, Jean, who injured his leg at the front, forcing him to return home. It takes a while until, not so surprisingly, Andrée and Jean fall in love. The twist then occurs when Jean decides to go back to support his fellow soldiers after recovering from his injury, leaving behind his ageing father and his lover.
One does not actually learn that much about what made Renoir the artist he was: Apart from the occasional explanation about his art ("Structure comes from colour, do not use black"), his celebration of the model´s young flesh or how his rheumatoid arthritis impaired him as an artist.
Bourdot more subtly hints at what made Renoir such an important artist of his time: The beautiful colours and lighting of Cagnes-sur-Mer reflects the essence of impressionist painting. Colour dominates. It is needed because reality (WWI) is too harsh. Moreover, Christa Theret as Andrée is the ideal fit: Her body perfectly shows what Renoir´s paintings were about - beauty and female sensuality.
Otherwise the film was quite disappointing as the director shifted the focus from father Auguste to son Jean Renoir (Vincent Rottier) with the son´s character lacking in depth and his love relationship with Andrée becoming quite annoying towards the end.
The good sides of the film though clearly outweigh the weaker and therefore I give it 6/10 because the colours and lighting just reflect Renoir´s art so strongly. The film is definitely worth watching.
The trailer. To get a sense of what the film is about!
No comments:
Post a Comment