Gauguin

I thought this film, directed by Edouard Deluc, had its moments but with its very methodical pacing and depressive tone can be a difficult watch. Vincent Cassel gives a fine performance as the acclaimed artist Paul Gauguin, who unable to sell his paintings in France, leaves his family in Paris to find inspiration for his work on the island of Tahiti.

There he meets the Tahitian beauty Tehura (Tuhei Adams), who, while living together, begins to pose for Gauguin's paintings and sketches. However, despite the lush atmospherics of it all, Gauguin finds himself still impoverished, in failing health, and becoming more and possessive and selfish when it comes to young Tehura. The envisioned idyllic life is slipping away.

Overall, despite the powerful performances from Cassel and the debut of Adams, the movie to me just became mostly a slog, although, at times, it seems to come together nicely, but those moments are too few and far between. Thus, just a fair rating for me.

This film fails in every possible way. Even the cinematography manages to flatten the lushness of Tahiti. But the story line is worse.

One has to wonder how and why it is near impossible for modern people to reconcile that Gauguin can be both a despicable pedophile and a great artist? I guess this is the fruit of ever decreasing interest in the classics, where literature for 3,000 years did not have the difficulty we have today in portraying real or archetypical legendary persons as both great personages and contemptible.

Consider that the entire film fails to mention, even once, this "wife" was 13 years old. That his relationship with her, and the natives, is a refection of his own selfish and predatory individual colonialism. Even his abandonment of his wife and children in France, attested to as abandonment in the sourced biographies, is inverted into them not wanting to come with him.

Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti

Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti is aptly titled.

It's a pity the pace slowed.

Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti is not a particularly bold film. Nevertheless, it is a film about a very bold person who escapes his bohemian life and introduces a bit of bohemia in the extremely relaxed nation of Tahiti.

I am unsure about the true nature Gauguin. The first part of the film seeks to present him as a man that was abandoned by his wife and family before their planned voyage to Tahiti. In return, he abandons them and lives a life of mild debauchery in a hut by the beach in Tahiti. I presumed the film was a little easy on Gauguin here; he seems to hit the ground running when he arrives and soon forgets his rather laborious family.

The film then obeys a common narrative of a man dealing with a midlife crisis by throwing himself into an affair with young girl - Tehura (a tribal Tahitian offering).

While the script may disappoint; the casting, performances and cinematography are all superb.

Gauguin might be selfish and possessive, but he certainly has conviction. This is certainly something Vincent brought to the screen superbly.

This film touches on a few similar themes to Jane Campions excellent film 'The Piano'. You could almost consider this film to be The Piano through a male lens.

It's a pity the pace of the film slowed. I couldn't help but feel that there is a better film that could have been made here. Perhaps more of his history in Paris would have created a better juxtaposition on what Gaugin left?

However, Gauguin threw himself into a new life and a new art. This above anything else is the most enticing thing about the film. It may inspire.

The story is simply flat and boring. There's no climactic moments, only perpetual dullness. Even the locations of the films do not seem beautiful, which does not do Tahiti justice. It isn't enticing to look at a very unkempt protagonist either. I was thoroughly bored by this film.

"Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti" is a Biography - Drama movie in which we watch Paul Gauguin leaving from Paris in 1891 to go to Tahiti leaving behind his wife and his five children. He finds happiness in a young native girl and he continues his life.

I liked this movie because it was simple but not boring and followed the life of Paul Gauguin and it is based on true events. The interpretation of Vincent Cassel who played as Paul Gauguin was very good and he did his best to adapt on this role. Another interpretation that has to be mentioned was Tuheï Adams who played as Tehura. In conclusion, I have to say that "Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti" is not a masterpiece and many things could be better and be presented with a little bit more information such as Paul Gauguin's life in Paris and how he was known there. This could help us understand his choices and his personality even better.