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 | Surviving Picasso |
 | "Under-appreciated Merchant/Ivory Masterpiece!" | 2006-11-19 |
If you have seen this film, you would no doubt be able to remember many scenes from this hidden gem. The performances are all top-notch, and why there's no DVD available is mind-blowing! It's filled with unforgettable one-liners, great sets and locales, beautiful montages, and the colors are rich and vivid, with perfect flesh tones from start to finish! The print is also very clean, while the overall cinematography is simply oscar-worthy! The casting could not have been better. Just have a look at the real Dora Maar, played by Julianne Moore. Her performance is just hypnotic! Surviving Picasso is about his relationships with the people in his life, and not so much about the history of his career, so it's not fair to say this film is lacking in that respect. Gilot's career as an artist is a fascinating one, and should be better known. Natascha McElhone's brilliant acting does just that! Merchant's passing should have stirred someone in charge of selecting new dvd releases to do right by both Ishmael and director James Ivory, for their incredible contribution to cinema, with the release of this masterpiece on DVD. The VHS version is crystal clear by the way, so don't think it's not worth the purchase. Nertheless, it would be a great addition to any DVD collection.
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 | Camille Claudel |
| "POWERFUL! Adjani's performance is heart-wrenching!!!" | 2004-07-23 |
Although this film is the story of an artist and does contain many scenes of art in progress, it plays more like a character study than a bioflick on Camille Claudel. It does run a bit long (a near three hours) but it is worth the time. Isabelle Adjani is masterfully brillant throughout. This is the sort of part which demands everything that an actor can give, and boy, did she deliver! If you are learning the art of acting, this can seriously be used as a textbook. Not to take anything away from Gerard Depardieu's commanding performance, but Isabelle Adjani is one of those actors that has mastered the use of body language. Her stares, breathing, flinches, smiles, all tell the story so powerfully, that this movie could have been filmed in silence. Adjani has provided with this performance, a trip through the heart and mind that is painstakingly rendered through flawless cinematography and direction. You can't ask for a better work of art from an actress and crew than this; it wouldn't be fair.
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