A nice biography featuring one the best sculptors Auguste Rodin has come to home video. It’s a feature film based on his life in his early 40’s and presents some of his best works during that period. Whether you are into the arts or not, this movie has been crafted with some very good drama and speaks to prolific groups including college hopefuls, history students, filmmakers and the 40 year-olds plus. The movie Rodin is available now on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital HD.
In Paris in the late 1800’s Auguste Rodin (Vincent Lindon) is now becoming a noted sculptor. It’s this time at age 40 when he gets his first commission from the state to mold his now famous “The Gates of Hell” inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy. Knowing it’s an insurmountable task he asks one of his students, 18-year-old Camille Claudel (Izia Higelin), to give him her opinion on his work thus far. At first she hesitates, then after a brief pause she points out some imperfections he may have missed. Since he will be making a large number of figures, he asks her to work with him. In this important period of Rodin’s life as a sculptor, Camille works by his side, they have an affair, and he gets acclaim. Another significant due to Rodin is that sculpture by women starts to get recognized by fellow artists.
Director Jacques Doillon is not a smooth boring helmsman. He makes his film to the point, eliminating what he feels is uninteresting jumping ahead and making a tighter film. He introduces his art pieces while concentrating mainly on his argumentative and sexuality side. He only provides bits and pieces of his work that he did including famous people like Balzac and Monet who were notables of the times. His interaction with other artists gets a white wash and the biography is more of a taste of his life.
The affair with Camille is very flighty and Doillon doesn’t show what happened to her beyond their work together. The back story on his companion Rose Beuret (Severine Caneele) is quickly drawn and doesn’t give much empathy for her devotion to Rodin. There is however, one small scene involving her feelings later on in the film, but by then it’s more of an afterthought. The film also makes the audience draw their own conclusions on why Camille seems to be running from Rodin other than a few hints about his relationship with Rose.
As Rodin, Vincent Lindon is terrific. He’s blunt, persistent and totally into the beauty of his figures, especially women who are mostly unclothed and seem to be an attachment of the male that accompanies each of his pieces. He believes that his works are superior to others of his day and insists on not changing his style. Most of his art life can be summed up in his masterpiece The Gates of Hell.
BONUS FEATURE
“The Sculpting of Rodin” (31:00 min.) features Veronique Mattiussi who heads up the Historical Fund at the Rodin Museum in Paris and Jacques Doillon who wrote and directed the film Rodin. Mattiussi gives her impression of the movie and what it meant to her. Doillon explains why he had to use poetic license in the film to fill in the blanks that were not available to him. Scenes are explained and side notes on Rodin are included in this special extra.
Rodin has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains nudity, sex and some language. The film is presented in the French language with English subtitles. It is available as a DVD, Blu-ray, or Digital HD
FINAL ANALYSIS: A nice retrospective of the great artist. (3 out of 5 Stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Starring: Vincent Lindon, Izia Higelin, Severine Caneele, Bernard Verley, Arthur Nauzyciel
Directed and screen written by: Jacques Doillon
Genre: Biography, Drama
Running Time: 1 hr. 59 min.
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, contains language, nudity, sex
Original Theatrical Release: May 24, 2017
Video Release Date: October 2, 2018
Language: English
Reviewed Format: Blu-ray
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English SDH
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: Cohen Group
Released Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, Digital HD
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
