filmophile-1

This was shown today as part of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts' annual French Film Festival. Having been enamored of Morisot's paintings for many years, I welcomed the opportunity given by this film to know more about, and see Morisot in, her life. While the larger facts seemed accurate, i believe the dialogue and most plot points are imagined. That was fine with me, because I wasn't seeking those kinds of details.

In the end, the most valuable thing I took away from the film was the feeling of that late 19th c. period. The dress, certainly, and the interiors, village streets, and countryside, but also the sounds, and most importantly, the light. For the first time, I was able to see the art in context .The film gave me the feeling that I was immersed in that time and that I could now visualize and sympathize with the world in which these paintings were created. As might be expected from a female director, the story focuses on the many types of prisons endured by women of the time even as Morisot had the good fortune of wealthy parents who encouraged her independent thoughts and spirit.

The film's weakness , for me, is that it focused way too much on the (speculative) sexual attraction between Morisot and Manet and not enough on the importance of their work in the context of art history. The latter is too softly touched upon, such that when Morisot achieves perhaps her greatest honor, that of being invited to be part of the rebel 'Impressionists' , you haven't been prepared enough to understand how that achievement was so monumental. But as an all-encompassing period piece and portrait of a most serious and complex artist, Berthe Morisot is well worth your time.

Bittersweet is the overall tenor of this film, which recently played at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts' Annual French Film Festival.Both charming and moving,it focuses on the 3 very different best friends of a lovely vibrant young woman,Charlie, after she succumbs to cancer. Feeling awkward and lost at her funeral, the three take a spontaneous road trip to her remote summer cabin on distant Corsica, where she had planned to take them that summer. The 3 leads are from 3 generations and they think they have nothing in common.In an easy flow, the director moves between them, revealing them through their present actions and their past memories of Charlie.

And with their long journey's many detours,some chosen and some not,they end up realizing their commonality and bond, and in fact, that may be Charlie's biggest gift to them. Because of the excellent screenplay and acting, it is a very believable transition. I was particularly enchanted by the youngest of the three, Max, played by the newcomer,Pierre Niney.

I don't think i have seen another film that deals with a friend's death in this way. Unlike The Big Chill,which is really about the present and the friends gathered, Like Brothers focuses on Charlie and her friendship with each of them, individually and together. It makes sense that it was nominated for some Cesars, and i feel very fortunate to have seen it.

EightyProof has already done a great job describing the specialness of this film, but I wanted to add a little more. Tenderness was shown last weekend as part of the annual French Film Festival at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. One of last year's films, The Minister , cemented my fascination for Olivier Gourmet's effortless acting style, so I made sure to see this piece, but little did i know that the real highlight of the film would be the character of as portrayed by the utterly delightful Marilyne Canto. For me, the film was really about HER. Whether that was the director's intention, I don't know, but while i was watching, it was as if I could FEEL the director becoming enamored of this enigmatic and charming Tinker Belle. Throughout the film, she just has this endearing slight smile that guides and protects her through life as she embraces the new and unknown at every turn. Not in any major situations, just in all the little moments of life.

After it kept revisiting my consciousness the next day, I said to my husband, "You know, it's a shame; i think Olivier/Franz was the real loser in that divorce. But he clearly never understood her or that it was his loss....." .