Filmed in picturesque Tahiti (French Polynesia) with melancholic score by Warren Ellis and pretty good Vincent Cassel as Paul Gauguin, 'Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti' centers on the iconic French post-Impressionist artist eking out an artistic existence in Tahiti and his (controversial) relationship with teenager Tehura (Tuheï Adams).
Slightly revisionist/skewed take on Gauguin's life in Polynesia, most notably aging up Tehura who was reportedly thirteen when she was married off to the middle-aged painter. This core feature of the flick is hampered by lack of depth. Understandable considering writer-director Edouard Deluc must have been wrestling with difficult choices of either sexing it up to the max to suggest Gauguin's attraction to Tehura was purely sexual (the creepy factor would have been off the charts) or slant the script towards muse-artist type of interaction which would have been somewhat more appropriate in explaining Gauguin's interest in the teen but quashes the emotional impact of Gauguin falling in love with the native girl and realizing she doesn't feel the same way towards him. At the end, Deluc went with a restrained approach by counterbalancing both aspects.
Gauguin grinding (and carving) through poverty is acutely depicted.
Slightly revisionist/skewed take on Gauguin's life in Polynesia, most notably aging up Tehura who was reportedly thirteen when she was married off to the middle-aged painter. This core feature of the flick is hampered by lack of depth. Understandable considering writer-director Edouard Deluc must have been wrestling with difficult choices of either sexing it up to the max to suggest Gauguin's attraction to Tehura was purely sexual (the creepy factor would have been off the charts) or slant the script towards muse-artist type of interaction which would have been somewhat more appropriate in explaining Gauguin's interest in the teen but quashes the emotional impact of Gauguin falling in love with the native girl and realizing she doesn't feel the same way towards him. At the end, Deluc went with a restrained approach by counterbalancing both aspects.
Gauguin grinding (and carving) through poverty is acutely depicted.