Winning seven Cesar awards against tough competitors like "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime" says a lot. The biopic of French painter Seraphine de Senlis, born Seraphine Louis (Yolande Moreau), at the turn of the last century is among the best that the French cinema has offered.
The story of the title protagonist is told in a way you wouldn't find in Hollywood – no fancy montages, no flashy flashbacks, no annoying voice-over, no pretentious twist and turns. Yet in the simple narrative that contains quite a large number of very short scenes, the story is mesmerizing. With the skillful camera as proxy, you are placed in the position of an intelligent observer of the somewhat enigmatic protagonist. Unlike many others, the movie makers of this film do not try to force on you pseudo profound analysis littered with Freudian complexes and childhood trauma.
The film starts with an adult Seraphine and never turns back to talk about her earlier days except for a very brief mention, by herself, of an early romance that bore to significant consequences. Instead, it focuses aptly on the two most important things about her: her love of nature and her talent for painting. Attentive with character development and crisps with event narration, the filmmakers in turn paint a vivid portray of Seraphine: lowly housekeeper and laundress, plain appearance, childlike disposition, simple religious devotion, subdued but keen observer and a passion for conveying the beauty of nature on to canvas. She is "ahead of her time" in her style of painting that art critic Wilhelm Udhe (Ulrich Tukur) prefers to describe with the term "primitive modernism" rather than the more unflattering "naïve".
The relationship between Seraphine and Wilhelm her mentor is tantalizingly subtle. There is little about Seraphine that is sensually attractive and what's more. Wilhelm is homosexual. And yet, there is something between them that is akin to Platonic love. Quite revealing is Wilhelm's characterization of himself as "not collect to be able to sell, but rather to seller to be able to collect". A true lover and connoisseur of art, he would naturally love Seraphine for her talent and work. On her part, she is not incapable of romantic tendencies as mentioned above, but just imprisoned by her lowly status and unattractive appearance. Wilhelm is someone who can truly see how beautiful she is and her infatuation for him is only natural, as in her jealousy of a woman who later turns out to be his sister.
The seven Cesars include best film, cinematography and Moreau's what must be a very close (but very deserved) win over Kristin Scott Thomas who is nothing short of brilliant in "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime".
The story of the title protagonist is told in a way you wouldn't find in Hollywood – no fancy montages, no flashy flashbacks, no annoying voice-over, no pretentious twist and turns. Yet in the simple narrative that contains quite a large number of very short scenes, the story is mesmerizing. With the skillful camera as proxy, you are placed in the position of an intelligent observer of the somewhat enigmatic protagonist. Unlike many others, the movie makers of this film do not try to force on you pseudo profound analysis littered with Freudian complexes and childhood trauma.
The film starts with an adult Seraphine and never turns back to talk about her earlier days except for a very brief mention, by herself, of an early romance that bore to significant consequences. Instead, it focuses aptly on the two most important things about her: her love of nature and her talent for painting. Attentive with character development and crisps with event narration, the filmmakers in turn paint a vivid portray of Seraphine: lowly housekeeper and laundress, plain appearance, childlike disposition, simple religious devotion, subdued but keen observer and a passion for conveying the beauty of nature on to canvas. She is "ahead of her time" in her style of painting that art critic Wilhelm Udhe (Ulrich Tukur) prefers to describe with the term "primitive modernism" rather than the more unflattering "naïve".
The relationship between Seraphine and Wilhelm her mentor is tantalizingly subtle. There is little about Seraphine that is sensually attractive and what's more. Wilhelm is homosexual. And yet, there is something between them that is akin to Platonic love. Quite revealing is Wilhelm's characterization of himself as "not collect to be able to sell, but rather to seller to be able to collect". A true lover and connoisseur of art, he would naturally love Seraphine for her talent and work. On her part, she is not incapable of romantic tendencies as mentioned above, but just imprisoned by her lowly status and unattractive appearance. Wilhelm is someone who can truly see how beautiful she is and her infatuation for him is only natural, as in her jealousy of a woman who later turns out to be his sister.
The seven Cesars include best film, cinematography and Moreau's what must be a very close (but very deserved) win over Kristin Scott Thomas who is nothing short of brilliant in "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime".