Rodin review: Jacques Doillon directs this really rather dull and uneventful biopic of legendary French artist Auguste Rodin in Rodin, making its way into official competition at Cannes 2017.
Rodin review by Paul Heath at the 2017 Festival de Cannes.
Rodin review
We open to 1880 Paris where the title card immediately informs us that Rodin has reached the age of 40, and has received his first state commission from the French government. He begins on ‘The Gates Of Hell’, a collection of figurines including the famous ‘The Kiss’ and ‘The Thinker’, some of his most famous work. It is at this time where he meets the Camille Claudel, a talented young woman, his student, who quickly becomes his assistant, and ultimately his mistress. The decade-spanning story, whittled down to just two very long hours, details Rodin’s shortcomings and unfulfillment with his work, notably his famous Balzac, a sculpture that wouldn’t gain respect during his lifetime, and the complicity of dealing with his young paramour and his home-bound lifelong partner Rose.
From the outset, Doillon’s film is a struggle; a massively laborious affair that spans a huge time period detailing an important time its subject’s life. The Cannes Croisette was awash with buzz prior to the film’s debut on the eve of its domestic release and its festival premiere, which was all but diminished as the first twenty minutes or so played out. Vincent Lindon, who headlines the film in the title role is incredibly strong as Rodin, as too is Izia Higelin as muse and mistress Claudel, but her character isn’t given enough time or development, or indeed respect at all, and the hard work that has been put into the performance fails to really shine.
Rodin review
To say the film is plodding is an understatement, the narrative and time periods divided by scenes that eventually fade to black signalling the end of that part of Rodin’s story. Most of said story is set in Rodin’s studio and there are hardly an exteriors, save from just a few, including one right at the very end set in the present day Japan where the sculptor’s famous Balzac now stands. In fact, that final scene feels so out of place it should have been omitted entirely.
Sure, it all looks nicely polished and there’s a whiff of an enjoyable film buried somewhere in Doillon’s latest, but the structure, plodding pace and seemingly unspectacular nature of the film massively lets it down. There are sequences of very gratuitous nudity towards the end, which given the artist’s promiscuity and that fact that he sculpted and painted naked women is expected, but it all feels way too much.
This excruciating, butt-numbing affair is disappointment to say the least. It offers nothing new on its interesting subject matter and even its inclusion of forced celebrity-artist cameos including Cezanne and Monet come across as pure inelegance. Avoid.
Rodin review by Paul Heath, May 2017.
Rodin premieres at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.
