Kirpianuscus the presence of Yolande Moreau becomes more important after the end of film. because her Seraphine is more than a character. it represents people and searches, colors and hopes. a film about art who defines the survive of a poor woman. far to be a great movie, it is only vehicle for noble idea. nothing new. nothing seductive. only a story about limits and need to e yourself against the expectations of the others. the film of Yolande Moreau. touching, sad, strange, soft. a biography who has nothing special. only the colors of paintings, the landscapes and the search of the manner to discover yourself to the other.a film about insignificant people. beautiful . but out of the ordinary expectations about a film about artists.

Turfseer Séraphine is a French-Belgian production about the housekeeper turned artist of the same name, who first gained fame between the last two World Wars. Creating films about famous artists are difficult since they're inherently not very dramatic. Highlighting the beauty of the artist's creation is one thing but designing a full-fledged drama concerning the artist and his/her interactions with the people they knew, could be problematic.While I would not call the story of Séraphine a gripping tale where you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat, it does manage to hold your interest, despite its languid pace. It's in fact, a very well- crafted biopic, that features some sensational cinematography.The story is rather simple. Séraphine is a devoted Catholic, middle-aged housekeeper who also happens to be a talented painter. She collects some of the ingredients for her paint from unusual sources including wax from candles in her local church, soil from plants and blood from a dead pig. One of the lodgers in a house she services is Uhde, an up and coming art critic and collector from Germany, who recognizes Séraphine's potential, despite disparaging remarks made about her artwork by the local gentry. Uhde even buys a few of Séraphine's paintings but eventually loses all his art possessions when World War I begins and he's forced to flee France, back to Germany.When Uhde returns to France between the wars in 1927, he looks Séraphine up again and notes her skills have improved a hundred fold. Now she's creating large works of art on giant canvasses. For a time, Uhde is able to have Séraphine's artwork shown in well-known galleries and pays her money where she's able to rent her own apartment. The onset of the Depression causes the art market to collapse and Uhde is no longer able to provide Séraphine with financial support. This perhaps precipitates the onset of her mental illness and eventually Séraphine has to be hospitalized. Her treatment at the hospital is not good and she falls deeper into psychosis. Uhde finally is able to sell some of Séraphine's paintings by around 1935 and uses the proceeds to make her more comfortable at the hospital. As noted above, 'Séraphine' is a slow-moving affair. Nonetheless, the method by which she creates her paintings, her religious zeal and her unusual relationship with Uhde, is enough for us to remain interested throughout. It's revealed at the end of the film that Séraphine never left the mental hospital and died in 1942. Uhde who was both gay and Jewish, was forced to hide in the South of France while the Nazis occupied the country. He died in 1947, two years after the end of World War II.

dromasca The viewing of 'Seraphine' and the magnificent performance of Yolande Moreau, an actress who seems born to play this role reminded me a few other films who had on their center great artists devoted to their art up to the limits of mental sanity. Mel Ferrer's 'El Greco' and John Hurt's 'Vincent' come to my mind immediately.The first part of the film happens in the treasonous summer of 1914, in the months before The Great War starts. The famous German art collector and critic Wilhelm Uhde (acted with welcome discretion by Ulrich Tukur), one of these man who do not buy art to resell it, but sell art to buy what they love finds summer refuge from Paris and his own daemons in the French countryside. He discovers to his surprise that the aging maid in the house is a painter, and a flamboyant one, despite her lack of artistic education or of any education. The war breaks, the German becomes the enemy and is obliged to flee France where he returns only one decade later.Here happens one of the astounding scenes of the film. Ulrich comes to look for Seraphine, he does not know and we do not know if she is still alive, or if she is still willing to talk with the prospective protector who abandoned her. The scene is sordid, in a decrepit building filmed without inspiration (I believe that this is intentional, in this film only art and nature have color and beauty), the door is closed, and anything can happen at this point, even the end of the movie.The door does open and the next and final part of the film is dedicated to the sudden success of Seraphine, her lack of capacity to deal with success, he sliding into insanity. It appears that her art origins in a mystic impulse, maybe an unhappy love story, but for an artist she says, love takes other paths than it does with common people. While in need and under harsh economic pressure her faith was channeled into art, when success comes she does not stop to create (actually creates some of her best works at this time) but her mystic beliefs try to find other ways of expression, which for the rest of the world belong to insanity.Director Martin Provost makes a wise choice not to comment or direct the viewers into judging the character, but rather lets them draw their own conclusions. How can genius be judged, where is the real border between genius and insanity, aren't rather these the two faces of the personalities of many great artists? The scenes where we see Seraphine painting are magnificent, she is determined and fragile, naive and passionate.The real Seraphine Louis or Seraphine de Senlis spent the last few years of her life in a mental institution exactly at the time when her work started to be known, appreciated, and loved by the art public world wide. The beautiful last scene shows her in a serene posture, in the middle of the nature which seems to have been together with love for God the principal source of inspiration of her work. I can only hope that her end was as serene as the last scene of this wonderful film.

Howard Schumann A frumpy cleaning woman well into middle age is discovered by an art critic to be a painter with talent comparable to Vincent Van Gogh. Her story is told in the riveting Seraphine, directed by Martin Provost and winner of seven Césars, the French version of the Oscars, including a best actress award for Yolande Moreau. With a screenplay by Martin Provost and Marc Abdelnour, the film is set in the village of Senlis outside of Paris where Séraphine Louis (Yolande Moreau) lives alone and must take odd jobs just to pay for her painting supplies. Séraphine is a visionary, a devout Catholic who believes she is guided by a guardian angel and her exotic paintings of flowers and plants describe her feelings of closeness to spirit.Treated with disdain by her condescending employer, her life takes on new meaning when a tenant, German art critic Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur) hires Séraphine to clean for him and accidentally discovers one of her paintings that her boss had tossed aside. A champion of modern "primitvist" artists who is credited with early recognition of Picasso and Rousseau, Uhde is portrayed by Tukur as a quiet, unassuming man who lives with his sister and a gay lover. He recognizes Séraphine's talent but never shows much enthusiasm, preferring to keep their relationship on a very business-like basis.Impressed by Seraphine's passionate art, Uhde offers to become her patron but, feeling estranged in France, must soon leave the country to return to Germany as the First World War begins. Although Séraphine continues to paint, she has no connection with Uhde until the latter part of the 1920s when he provides her with the means to quit her job and paint full time. Unfortunately, her grip on reality falters and she is soon hospitalized after indulging in spending sprees on a wedding dress and purchase of a large mansion. One of the saddest scenes in the film is that of Séraphine dressed in a full wedding gown, going door to door giving her away her possessions.Provost in Séraphine captures the artist's mystical nature and her close bond with nature that shows up in her works, which are still exhibited in many of the world's museums. She is shown hugging trees, climbing them, and standing as a tiny speck beneath a towering shade tree. One scene shows her standing nude in water up to her chest in a nearby river. Provost takes a minimalist approach and the film does not contain much dialogue. The story is told by the silences and facial expressions and the music by Michael Galasso adds richness to the experience. Fully capturing the eternal mystery of the creative process, Séraphine itself is a work of art.