Indie Watch
Renoir
By Dan Krovich
December 5, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
VOD Pick of the Week
Renoir
When the expected French submission to the Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film category (and predicted frontrunner for the Oscar trophy), Blue is the Warmest Color was ruled ineligible due to its release date, it opened the field for France’s official submission. That spot was filled by Gilles Bourdos’ Renoir. The contenders for the foreign film Oscar are usually largely an unseen mystery; Renoir is available for easy viewing on a variety of platforms.
The film takes place in the summer of 1915 on the French Riviera. Famed artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir is reaching the twilight of his life; he is wheelchair bound and suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis that often leaves him in agonizing pain. Despite his debilitating condition he still paints regularly, and when a new model, Andree, shows up he seems to have a fresh burst of inspiration. Andree serves as his current muse, but in what was apparently true even in the early days of cinema she is using her modeling career towards her real goal of becoming an actress.
Renoir is revered. At his estate he is surrounded by a gaggle of caretakers and servants, all female and apparently at least mostly his former models, who refer to him as “boss.” Renoir is further invigorated when his middle son, Jean, returns to convalesce after being injured fighting in The Great War. There is great mutual admiration between father and son and there is a bit of suggestion that Jean may have always been his favorite, but there is also a healthy rivalry between the two men as Jean wants to return to the fight when he heals while his father feels like he’s done his part and doesn’t want to see his son sacrifice to such a pointless exercise as war.
Jean is also attracted to his father’s new model, and he begins an affair with Andree. Their relationship is largely a matter of opposites attracting. Jean is more buttoned up and duty bound while Andree is more fiery and rebellious. They also share an interest in the movies and there are glimmers of Jean Renoir’s future legendary career as a director that include films such as the Rules of the Game and The Grand Illusion.
As a film about a great painter should be, Renoir is visually sumptuous. The film is brilliantly lensed with bright colors and contains frame after frame of gorgeous images that could stand as canvasses themselves. Bourdos along with cinematographer Ping Bin Lee have made a film that is the equivalent of walking through a gallery, but the film is also an examination of artistic inspiration and the bond between father and son.
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