Starring: Vincent Cassell, Tuhei Adams, Malik's Zidi
Distributor: StudioCanal
Runtime: 100 mins. Reviewed in May 2018
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Paul Gauguin is best remembered for his work in French Polynesia, in Tahiti, the Marquises. Spending some time there in the 1880s, he returned to France, was associated with Vincent van Gogh as well as many of the prominent artists in Paris. He was married, with a large number of children.
On his return, he tried to persuade artist friends as well as his wife and children to come with him again to Tahiti. The artists thought it was too far away and too difficult. His wife complained of the squalor in which they lived.
Nevertheless, he returned, rather ill but going into the mountains to find the locals, to commune with nature, to hunt and gather, to talk some of the local language, to share in French, to hear the stories of the gods and creation and to paint. His health improved. The local people also wanted him to take a wife and designated a young woman with whom he conversed, learning the different myths of the people, a testing time of one month. She then became his wife.
He then returned to the capital, his health improved, he had done some paintings and was also involved in chiselling images in wood. He had a young associate who was creative in carving, but was able to outsell his master to the passing tourist trade. The young man also had eyes for the artist’s wife, following her from church one day with the artist following, angry, with his gun but not shooting.
Paul Gauguin also kept his wife inside, locked, wearing European dress, having formal meals with European food and cutlery. To get money he worked as a wharf labourer.
No money came from France so ultimately he was repatriated as a poor man. However, he was soon to return to the islands and paint for another 10 years, classic paintings but he was to die in poverty.
He gained a considerable reputation in the 20th century.
Peter Malone MSC is an Associate of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting.
This subtitled, French film is about the post-impressionist French painter, Paul Gauguin, who began an affair with a young woman in Tahiti in 1891. It tells the story of Gauguin’s voyage to French Polynesia, from 1891 to 1893, and focuses on a well known artist at a time when he produced some of his best known work. Gauguin is widely known for his experimental use of vividly stark colours and simple forms, and his primitive depiction of human emotion.
Paul Gauguin (Vincent Cassel) lived in Paris with his wife, Mette (Pernille Bergendorff), and his five children. Wanting fresh inspiration, and feeling disaffected with the shallowness of life in Paris, he left his family behind to travel to Tahiti in 1891, searching for new energy and enthusiasm.
In Tahiti, Gauguin settled in the village of Mataiera, living in a native hut, and working in a style that reflected the simple life that he was living. He was influenced enormously by the cultural life on the island, and he observed and painted the friendly islanders, while sharing their existence.
Tahiti gave him what he thought was the perfect environment to liberate his art. But he experienced health problems, which included a heart attack, and while there he began an affair in an arranged marriage with a young girl, Tehura (Tuhei Adams), who lived on the island. Gauguin’s affair with her was passionate and sexual, and the film highlights the relationship that existed between them.
A major issue with the movie is the way in which it ignores facts in Gauguin’s life that are relevant to understanding both his actions and his art. Such facts in no way deny or inhibit anyone experiencing the vitality of Gauguin’s work, but they are relevant to a movie that is directed by Edouard Deluc (the film’s Director) in semi-biographical style. The film shows us Tehura, agreeing to the relationship, and Gauguin riding away with her to live together. In Tahiti, he formed a strong bond with his doctor (Malik Zidi), who appreciated his art, and his affair with Tehura continued until his relationship with her came to an end in 1893.
In reality, Gauguin took advantage of an under-age girl. The film fails to address that issue, and, perhaps for censorship reasons, it uses an older actress (17-year-old, Tuhei Adams) to play the part of Tehura. Gauguin’s sexual predilections are known to be a significant part of understanding and evaluating the impact of his work, and deserved discussion. The movie glosses over the moral flaws in Gauguin’s character, and romanticises the attachment of Tehura to a young boy-islander, Jotepha (Pua-Tai Hikutini).
The film isn’t about Gauguin’s art, as much as it is about Gauguin at work “creating” his art. Technically, the film’s camerawork, scene composition, and lighting are excellent, and Vincent Cassel, as Gauguin, delivers a vibrant performance that expresses the conflicts of a complex and conflicted man, frustrated by his lack of recognition. Cassel acts the role of Gauguin with great intensity, as he paints, sculpts, and wood-carves. This leaves us to contemplate how much the film brings us to a better appreciation of Gauguin’s art. Surprisingly, the film leaves it to the credits to display Gauguin’s finished paintings of Tehura – arguably his most famous model. Only in the last moments of the film, do we see completed Gauguin’s paintings of her. Previously, the film had focused on scenes of Tehura that inspired Gauguin to sketch and paint her.
This is a film about Gauguin that concentrates much more on Cassel’s portrayal of Gauguin “at work” than what Gauguin actually created as an artist. The film disappointedly mythologises both the nature of Gauguin’s personality, and the facts of the life he actually led. Its cinematography, however, is spectacular. Tahiti’s forests, mountains, rivers, and cascading waterfalls are beautifully photographed, and the film captures Tahiti’s scenic grandeur magnificently.
Peter W. Sheehan is Associate of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
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