I went to see this movie based on the premise that its chief theme concerned an older man, the artist Marc Clos (Jean Rochefort), who instills his wisdom of life to a young woman--his model Merce (Aida Folch), a young Catalan woman--before his life is over.
The year is 1943 (inferred because the battle of Stalingrad is mentioned several times) and France is occupied by the Germans. To capture this epoch, the movie's filmed in black and white. I understand this but I would have preferred color to capture the beauty of the physical landscape and the beauty of the Merce's bodyscape. But that's a minor quibble.
Merce has escaped from a Spanish prison camp where she was interned for five years after the end of the Spanish Civil War (1935-1938). She is hungry and in desperate need of shelter and drifts into the French border village where Marc and Lea Clos (Lea played effectively by Claudia Cardinale) live. Marc is a sculptor and Lea knows what kind of woman he likes to draw and sculpt. And Merce fits the bill. So she is given food and a place to sleep in Marc's studio over the stable. And she is paid to model for Marc.
Much of the movie involves Marc trying to find the right pose for Merce and he makes numerous drawings, many of which he discards, before finally setting out on the sculpture of her nude body.
The movie really doesn't have much conflict or driving force. Marc is a very taciturn artist who doesn't say much but gets annoyed at Merce because often she doesn't know what exactly he wants. She's new to being a model and he doesn't exactly articulate very well what he wants. I saw very little of Marc offering up his wisdom on life, due I suppose to his quiet non-talkative nature. He does effectively convey the frailty of his body as he feels Merce's supple youthful body with his hands. These actions rather than words inform us of his approaching end and reveal his sadness that life is slipping away. Marc is grouchy and taciturn, but basically he is a good man.
But all this doesn't lend itself to much drive in the movie. Finally Marc finishes his sculpture of Merce and she leaves via bicycle. Lea warns her to be careful because an occupying army in defeat is worse than a victorious one. But Merce encounters no Germans and Marc sits on his porch chair holding his old rifle on his lap. We see a cluster of birds in a tree. Then a shot rings out and they scatter. Did Marc commit suicide or did he fire to scare off the birds? Because he scattered a group of prying children with his gun, he might just as well have scattered the birds. Or maybe he decided that he'd beat death at its own game. We don't know.
The movie could have been more engaging although one could argue it makes its points more subtly. I rate it seven out of ten.
The year is 1943 (inferred because the battle of Stalingrad is mentioned several times) and France is occupied by the Germans. To capture this epoch, the movie's filmed in black and white. I understand this but I would have preferred color to capture the beauty of the physical landscape and the beauty of the Merce's bodyscape. But that's a minor quibble.
Merce has escaped from a Spanish prison camp where she was interned for five years after the end of the Spanish Civil War (1935-1938). She is hungry and in desperate need of shelter and drifts into the French border village where Marc and Lea Clos (Lea played effectively by Claudia Cardinale) live. Marc is a sculptor and Lea knows what kind of woman he likes to draw and sculpt. And Merce fits the bill. So she is given food and a place to sleep in Marc's studio over the stable. And she is paid to model for Marc.
Much of the movie involves Marc trying to find the right pose for Merce and he makes numerous drawings, many of which he discards, before finally setting out on the sculpture of her nude body.
The movie really doesn't have much conflict or driving force. Marc is a very taciturn artist who doesn't say much but gets annoyed at Merce because often she doesn't know what exactly he wants. She's new to being a model and he doesn't exactly articulate very well what he wants. I saw very little of Marc offering up his wisdom on life, due I suppose to his quiet non-talkative nature. He does effectively convey the frailty of his body as he feels Merce's supple youthful body with his hands. These actions rather than words inform us of his approaching end and reveal his sadness that life is slipping away. Marc is grouchy and taciturn, but basically he is a good man.
But all this doesn't lend itself to much drive in the movie. Finally Marc finishes his sculpture of Merce and she leaves via bicycle. Lea warns her to be careful because an occupying army in defeat is worse than a victorious one. But Merce encounters no Germans and Marc sits on his porch chair holding his old rifle on his lap. We see a cluster of birds in a tree. Then a shot rings out and they scatter. Did Marc commit suicide or did he fire to scare off the birds? Because he scattered a group of prying children with his gun, he might just as well have scattered the birds. Or maybe he decided that he'd beat death at its own game. We don't know.
The movie could have been more engaging although one could argue it makes its points more subtly. I rate it seven out of ten.