2008, France/Belgium
Biography, Drama, History
READ THE REVIEW AT The Desert Sun.
There is satisfaction in the fact that Séraphine is the winner of seven César Awards (France's Oscar) including Best Film, as the artist represented was initially unappreciated by her local art community. A woman driven by devotion and servitude, Séraphine Louis found God not only in the gratification of a clean pot from one of her many odd jobs but more evidently in her almost trance-like nightly painting sessions.
Yolande Moreau -- who previously won Césars for acting and directing When the Sea Rises -- embodies an artist who appears to be more spirit than mortal. From the angelic voices which guide her to the wind which whispers to her through the trees, Séraphine flits from job to errand, a distracting interruption to those who dismiss her existence as minimally useful. That is, until 1914 when German art collector Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur) rents a house at which she cleans and happens upon one of her godly creations. Though their relationship is interrupted by war, fate would reunite them.
Occasional director Martin Provost follows the discovery of Séraphine with gentle affection. Cinematographer Laurent Brunet fades in and out of small moments in her day-to-day, from the collection of secret pigment ingredients to the dutiful worship woven into every action. Dialogue is sparse, but much as in art appreciation, it is the visual presentation that leaves the greatest impact.
Séraphine's art has been categorized into the Naïve style -- or Modern Primatives, as Uhde corrects in the film -- based on its simplicity in form. There is certainly something of a folk art arrangement in her repetitive use of flowers and fruit, yet as the years continue and she focuses more of her energies on her artwork than the jobs needed to pay for supplies, the canvases expand with bolder expressions of the nature which brings her peace.
Such peace is a delicate balance, as her almost childlike behavior is dependent on her ability to illustrate her religious devotion despite her wavering mental stability in an increasingly harsh social climate. The community of Senlis spins around Séraphine, oblivious to her talents and more concerned with greater world affairs, though Uhde attempts to bring her in focus to surrounding blurry eyes.
Séraphine presents the artist's story in such a way that the audience can appreciate the birth of each painting without the need for an explanation of brush strokes and only casual references to contemporaries which Uhde also collects, such as Pablo Picasso and George Braque. Just as Séraphine was detached from the increasingly connected global art world, so too is her story from a greater history, even the First World War which would affect her greatest supporter. Yet it is through this tight focus that one becomes absorbed into her work, her worship and her art, acknowledging a woman deserving of renewed appreciation.