What is it about French *EPICS* that makes them so dreary? 'Camille Claudel' suffers from the same intrinsic problems as its predecessors ('Entre Nous' comes to mind). Too much style ... not enough substance. Make no mistake folks ... this is a very lavish (read expensive) production. Perhaps that is the problem. Too much time and money spent on production design and cinematography and not enough time on script development. This is supposed to be a character driven piece yet somehow the 'story' just gets lost in all that grandeur. It's only during the last 3rd of the film do we we actually get to see any sort of 'performance' from Isabelle Adjani. For the rest, both her and Depardieu are minnows lost at sea in a maze of bloated film sets awash with moody lighting.
Yes .. the cinematography IS breathtaking so kudos to Pierre Lhomme. I beg to differ with other reviewers about the musical score tho. It's one of the worst i have endured in recent times. More often than not it seems to be totally out of place (and out of context) to the scene we are witnessing ... almost as if it had been scored without actually *seeing* the film.
I cant help but feel how this story would have been handled by a director with some understanding of the nature of art, but more importantly ... the ARTIST. Those having seen Jacques Rivette's 'La Belle Noiseuse' will understand. And for those interested in Depardieu driven historical pieces, seek out (the hard to find) Le Colonel Chabert. He's performance in that film is exquisite.
This is an overly melodramatic film and a sad waste of money. They could have made 3 films for what this one must have cost. Not recommended.
Yes .. the cinematography IS breathtaking so kudos to Pierre Lhomme. I beg to differ with other reviewers about the musical score tho. It's one of the worst i have endured in recent times. More often than not it seems to be totally out of place (and out of context) to the scene we are witnessing ... almost as if it had been scored without actually *seeing* the film.
I cant help but feel how this story would have been handled by a director with some understanding of the nature of art, but more importantly ... the ARTIST. Those having seen Jacques Rivette's 'La Belle Noiseuse' will understand. And for those interested in Depardieu driven historical pieces, seek out (the hard to find) Le Colonel Chabert. He's performance in that film is exquisite.
This is an overly melodramatic film and a sad waste of money. They could have made 3 films for what this one must have cost. Not recommended.