The story of a self-taught painter

Séraphine (2008)
Certified: 12
Duration: 126 minutes
Directed by: Martin Provost
Starring: Yolande Moreau, Anne Bennent, Geneviève Mnich
KRS release

The story of French painter Séraphine Louis is told in this award-winning film by Martin Provost. It won seven Césars, the French equivalent to Hollywood’s Oscars, including best picture, best actress and also best original script.

I had little awareness of Séraphine’s life and artistic style before this film introduced me to her. Here she is played in an intense manner by Yolande Moreau. As portrayed in this film ,the self-taught Séraphine was a whirlwind of creativity.

The film is set before World War I when Séraphine Louis is in her 50s. She is an introvert and does odd jobs that include cooking and cleaning to be able to buy the art materials she needs. She walks in the fields without any shoes, singing Latin hymns.

Then there is German art critic and dealer William Uhde (Ulrich Tukur) for whom Séraphine eventually works. This is the time when the “naïve” style of art flourished and in Séraphine’s floral and still life studies, William finds his next “modern primitive”.

The film shows how World War I intrudes on Séraphine’s life and aspirations.

At the centre point of the film is Ms Moreau who brings an honest approach to her character. She is eccentric and her performance will make her character grow in stature. Watching her paint under the flickering candlelight is both eerie and glorious at the same time. It is her performance which makes such an intimate process as painting be compelling viewing.

The film will also dissect the madness that this deceptively plain-looking woman will end up in descending into. An interesting point is that the self-taught Séraphine used to mix her own paint, something which amazingly enough has stood the test of time.

Mr Provost is majestic in his cinematic approach. He never lets the movie become too bombastic but rather lets the film unfold slowly and in a very simple manner. Yet the film has a haunting quality to it that is very fitting to the subject at hand. It is very difficult not to feel entranced and sympathetic to all the emotions that Ms Moreau brings to the screen.