Séraphine - the story of Séraphine de Senlis
{FILM DIARY}
Séraphine (France/Belgium, 2008)
Seen: Monday, 9th November 2009 (cinema)
Runtime: 125′
Director: Martin Provost
Cast: Yolande Moreau, Ulrich Tukur
Production House: TS Productions, Climax Films, Région Ile-de-France, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), Angoa-Agicoa, Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communauté française de Belgique, France 3 Cinéma, La Banque postale Image, Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique, Procirep, Programme MEDIA de la Communauté Européenne, Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF), Soficinéma
Plot: (from imdb)
Based on the life of French painter Séraphine de Senlis.
Trailer
Impressions In Short
A pleasant costume drama with a somewhat depressing (but true) ending.
More About the Film
It’s a nicely shot film with good performances, but it didn’t make a strong impression on me - it was just kind of nice ;)
Seraphine really worked well as a character. In a way it was the classic underdog kind of plot, only it didn’t have a happy ending like most underdog films do *sigh* The character I most felt for, however, was probably not Seraphine, but Wilhelm Uhde. He was an outsider in so many ways - he was homosexual, Jewish and ends up in the unfortunate situation of being a German in France when the war is about to break out. And then on top of that he eventually has to deal with Seraphine’s mental breakdown and the premature death of his lover.
Recommended?
I suppose :) For anyone who likes costume dramas and films about art this will probably be a pleasant viewing.
