Seraphine is this bumbling, childish, 'naive' woman. She is a humble cleaner who has a penchant for walks in the countryside and yet she paints gorgeously.
This film is very straight-forward. Its your usual artists tale and Seraphine depiction is rather clichéd. That artists are misunderstood, outcasts, and have crazed or in this case crazed religious beliefs. So the story isn't new, but it's told with simplicity and directness. The cinematography and art direction reflect this, nothing fancy here. The plot is again simple no twists to get lost on, little subtlety and few characters.
It's this simplicity from which the film draws its realism. That and the acting of Seraphine. The actress was spectacular, Seraphine is not an easy part to play, this innocence and true crazed underpinnings. Special note at hobbling, awkward walk, and difficult breathing. Another thing is that there are no beautiful people. Hollywood seems to have this obsession with beauty, so much so that everyone in their films is beautiful, Hollywood would never make Seraphine but if they did there's no doubt they have made her a stunner.
The beginning of this film is marvelous, as I went in not knowing what Seraphine was about and for the first say half hour we saw her as others saw her and when she started doing these weird things I thought, she is crazy! Then, when she started painting I went, Oh! The surprise was delightful. The film then went on in a regular way but I don't like the ending, I think perhaps I just feel sorry for her.
The paintings are crazy like her, they're intense and the flowers sinister and unreal. The paintings show that under the simplicity, there's something more. And that is like this film.
This film is very straight-forward. Its your usual artists tale and Seraphine depiction is rather clichéd. That artists are misunderstood, outcasts, and have crazed or in this case crazed religious beliefs. So the story isn't new, but it's told with simplicity and directness. The cinematography and art direction reflect this, nothing fancy here. The plot is again simple no twists to get lost on, little subtlety and few characters.
It's this simplicity from which the film draws its realism. That and the acting of Seraphine. The actress was spectacular, Seraphine is not an easy part to play, this innocence and true crazed underpinnings. Special note at hobbling, awkward walk, and difficult breathing. Another thing is that there are no beautiful people. Hollywood seems to have this obsession with beauty, so much so that everyone in their films is beautiful, Hollywood would never make Seraphine but if they did there's no doubt they have made her a stunner.
The beginning of this film is marvelous, as I went in not knowing what Seraphine was about and for the first say half hour we saw her as others saw her and when she started doing these weird things I thought, she is crazy! Then, when she started painting I went, Oh! The surprise was delightful. The film then went on in a regular way but I don't like the ending, I think perhaps I just feel sorry for her.
The paintings are crazy like her, they're intense and the flowers sinister and unreal. The paintings show that under the simplicity, there's something more. And that is like this film.