This film about the tragic life of French artist Camille Claudel is as dark and unwieldy as one of Claudel's own sculptures. Born in 1864, Claudel (played by Oscar-nominated Isabelle Adjani, who also coproduced) demonstrated talent early. At 20, she met sculptor Auguste Rodin (Gerard
Depardieu), who became her mentor and lover. Their 12-year liaison was an artistically fertile time for Claudel, but the affair's disastrous outcome caused the already high-strung Claudel to deteriorate further emotionally to the point of becoming an impoverished recluse, and in 1913 she was
forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital.
Adjani and director Bruno Nuytten's film is an admiring but emotionally ininvolving and sketchy account of a woman about whom little is actually known. Faced with gaps in the record, they have imagined a life of towering romantic passion and destruction for Claudel, but the plot motivation becomes
murky, leaving Adjani to indulge in protracted emotional fireworks that damage her portrayal. On the other hand, Depardieu is amazingly successful in his tricky role as the great Rodin, and ex-cinematographer Nuytten fills his film with memorable images.
His inexperience as a first-time director shows, however, in the film's uncertain pacing and lack of dramatic cohesiveness (the inadequate script is no help). In addition to Adjani's Oscar nomination, the film was also up for Best Foreign Film, but lost to CINEMA PARADISO. leave a comment