Seraphine was a film produced in 2008, a French-Belgian film that Martin Provost directed. The film was written by Marc Abdelnour as well as Provost, with the stars of the film being Yolande Moreau, who was a French painter, and Seraphine Loius. The film won the Cesar Best Film Award in 2009.
Conception
The story is based on the true life story of a maid, a German art critic discovered in a French-based town known as Senlis. She was discovered on the eve of the First World War, where she is first encountered as she feels her way through a dark stream while she fingers the weeds along the way. While her feet are wet, she is seen hurrying to the church, where behind a stained glass window, she sings devotedly. This opens up Martin Provost’s film dialogue, which sets up his themes, along with his central character, which is aligned with a graceful economy. She lives in extreme poverty, where the landlady hounds her. She does laundry for a few francs, which she uses to buy canvas and paints, which she cannot mix by herself. Before Uhde flees to France at the beginning of World War 1, he is impressed by her painting and makes a promise to her after giving her some money. Ten years later, he returns with his sister, assuming Seraphine is dead, and at a town hall exhibition by the locals, he gets to see Seraphine’s work but in a more polished and bigger version (Brooks, 2009). As others would do, he is so impressed.
The storyline of Seraphine is not a rags-to-riches story as most of the other films are. The directors developed it based on the delusional moments of Seraphine and the manic state that overtakes her at the prospects of fortune and fame, as well as how far she hides that it makes it difficult for Uhde to reach her. The artist briefly describes nothing, but it feels like everything, as pointed out by Solomons (2009). It presents people like Seraphine as people who do not deserve pity because art is their refuge. We have seen Seraphine in the movie stealing candle wax from the church and blood from the butcher, mixing them up to form paint, and using them to draw. The experience of creating creates some joy for the artists that obliterates their circumstances, and the problem comes when they are not working and they are required to go right on living (Ebert, 2009).
Production
The film was produced in filming locations that included Cathedrale, Senslis, Oise, Dampsmennils, Eure, and Crecy-la-Chapelle in France between July 2007 to August 2007. It was directed by one director, with two wires, twenty-seven cast members, and five producers. There was one cinematographer and one editor, one production designer, one set decorator, one costume designer, five production managers, twelve sound technicians, visual and special effects persons, and nine members of the camera and electrical department (Docker, 2009).
Exhibition/Distribution/ Promotion
The film was exhibited in August 2008 in France at the Angouleme Film Festival. In Canada, it was released in September at the Toronto International Film Festival. In October, it was released at the Gent International Film Festival in 2008. Other regions followed all over America, Africa, and the United Kingdom. It was exhibited as a film, video clips and trailers, photographs, and other miscellaneous sites. The film was distributed through collaboration with theater and streaming services that offered viewing and promotion for the film. Diaphana Films in France was one of the agencies that were responsible for the distribution of the film, while in the US, Music Box Films was responsible for distribution(Berardinelli, 2009). The film, on the other hand, was promoted through the teaser trailers that were released on online and TV channels, through posters, websites, and interviews for the crew and producers.
Reception
The film received critical acclaim, where Kempin (2009) stated that for every 100 reviews, 89 were positive, giving an equivalent rating of 7.5/10. The reviews stated that the film was well articulated, presenting the life of a woman’s experience through art, religion, and mental illness, stating that that was a great performance by the writers. The reviews led the film to win several awards, such as Best Cinematography, Best Film, Best Music for a Film, Best Production Design, and Best Sound, where the artist won the Best Actress Leading Role, Best Writing, and Best Costume Design in the Cesar awards (Knipp, 2009). The film has won other awards, including Best Actress in the European Film Awards, the Los Angeles Film Critics, and the National Society of Film Critics.
Summary/ critical response
Seraphine, as a painter, might not be well known to the world today, but her story lives to inspire through the compelling film. The writer extracted all the significant elements of her life while creating a work of art that is in the form of a film, which narrates the way she also created her life through art. The story is narrated in a very simple way, related with some little dialogue and atmospheric scenery created by the cinematographer. The musical choice combines sacred chants and idiomatic musical instruments of French ancestry. Seraphine is depicted by Yolande, who displays a glow with radiance, showing the simple, spiritual, and artistic girl that gives the film its unique characteristic as a little masterpiece that deserves the attention of every person.
The film displays cinema as a language of deception, where at this site we see the mise-en-scene as the director would want us to see. It conditions our minds visually before an actor speaks up their lines. The historical clothing impresses the eye, creating an artistic vision in the viewers. Seraphine has continued the French version of the film, where they speak art through costume and drama in a very accessible vein. We can confidently state that the production values in the film are high all around, with the costume, acting, and direction all achieving high standards, as seen in the many film awards that the film has helped over the years. The film’s overall effect can be said to be touching without being sentimental.
References
Berardinelli, J. (2009, July 18). Séraphine (France, 2008). Retrieved from A movie review: https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/seraphineerg
Brooks, X. (2009, November 27). Séraphine. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/nov/27/seraphine-reviewsad
Docker, C. (2009, September 8). Polished enchantment. Retrieved from Seraphine: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1048171/reviewsgh
Ebert, R. (2009, June 17). Art that flows from the soul. Retrieved from Art that Flows from the Soul: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/seraphine-2009
Kempin, J. (2009, June 4). Seraphine — Film Review. Retrieved from The Holywood Reporter: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/seraphine-film-review-93247/
Knipp, C. (2009, February 23). A visionary artist, her sometime mentor, and her sad decline. Retrieved from Cesar Awards: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1048171/reviewsh
Solomons, J. (2009, November 29). Martin Provost’s life of the painter Séraphine de Senlis is a study in subtlety worthy of Flaubert, says Jason Solomons. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/nov/29/seraphine-review
write