Gaugin-Voyage de Tahiti

Some good moments in this story of Paul Gauguin and his Tahitian period, emphasizing his relationship with Tehura, but mostly I found the film overly self-indulgent, and narcissistic on the part of the film creators. I am a bit critical on the subject since Gauguin is my favorite Impressionist, more brilliant in my mind than Vincent. If it had been tighter, with less stream of consciousness and more emphasis on the narrative it would have been more effective. Paul Gauguin has been played by George Sanders (as "Strickland" in Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence) Anthony Quinn, David Carradine, and now Vincent Cassel. All good in their way, each capturing elements of the artist's personality. Surprisingly, of all the actors to play Gauguin David Carradine gives the best performance. Find it if you can in another so-so try at capturing this story, Gauguin the Savage.

Just gorgeous, well acted, beautifully and invisibly directed, though some seem to miss the subtle way the cinematography flattens the spaces and abstract the shapes like Gauguin's best artwork does. Cassel is mesmerizing and looks uncannily like Gauguin's self portraits. His portrayal can make us understand the he had no choice but to paint, and all costs.

The simple loving relationship between Paul and Tehura is worn down and corrupted in the same way the People of Polynesia were by sickness and greed introduced by the colonizers. The innocent playful fun, the jealousy, suspicion and pain... this film tells a story that shows there is no running away from the human condition.

Bitter sweet inspiration about a man who truly struggled for his art.

I've been a fan of Vincent Cassell for years and he is the only reason why I wanted to see this movie when I saw the poster in a near by theater. Cassell plays Paul Gauguin, an artist who was willing to give up everything: his wife, his 5 children, all to travel down to Tahiti in hopes that the journey would make him a better artist. While down there he stars a romance with a woman who becomes his muse.

Cassell, himself was so good in the movie. It was a mixed bag of emotions as Cassell portrays a very selfish man who give up way too much to become a starving artist holding on to the dream that he would find pure inspiration. It was indeed a struggle, but Cassell's performance also show a man who was focus on living his best life.

Another great yet low key performance was done by Tuheï Adams who plays Tehura, the muse who became the focus of many of Gauguin's painting. I felt the two of them together had enough chemistry to keep the movie going.

Overall, I went to see this movie for Vincent Cassell and I'm very stratified with his performance enough to be interested in the man he portrayed (ignoring how a movie set in the late 1800s is painting a clear picture of what Gentrification looks like today.) Plus Tuhei Adams was a pleasant bonus and I hope to see more of her.

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.

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.