Helene

A superlative movie about the life and work of Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck. This is one of the finest movies about an artist I have ever seen. It captures so much of the artist's emotional inner life and her resulting work. Great script, great casting, great performances and the art direction and photography are incredible. Many sequences are filmed with each shot set up as if it were a living painting. The lighting and color are amazing. If you love art this will make you want to paint.

Leading role was superb! Laura Birn really commands the screen. Every other roles were well played too, good casting. Set decorating was best that I've ever seen in a finnish movie! And finally cinematography was like art itself(painted art). Wow! Highly recommended!

I knew nothing about her and this movie just showed me in 2hr beautiful photography and amazing acting (Laura Birn/ Helene, friend and mother) but little else. It seems to me that there was much more to see that her suffering about her lover around all, ALL the time. Her paintings are shown very little, the sparse dialogue and the slow pace are there for dissimulate a poor script and direction. Helene Schjerfbeck deserves something better than this film.

Boring boring and boring, just wasted 2hrs of my life waiting something to happen. And those paintings my two years old draws better, 4 points for cinematography, acting was so wooden. Avoid at all costs.

Beautifully shot film! Looks like a painting in itself. Laura Birn gives a performance of a lifetime. Loved it!