Stars: Guillaume Canet, Guillaume Gallienne, Alice Pol
Storyline
A historical drama traces the lifelong friendship between two renowned 19th century French artists - painter Paul Cézanne (Guillaume Gallienne) and writer Emile Zola (Guillaume Canet) - from their first meeting as schoolmates to their creative rivalry as fame and success continue to elude Cézanne.
Cast: Guillaume Canet -
Emile Zola
Guillaume Gallienne -
Paul Cézanne
Alice Pol -
Alexandrine Zola
Déborah François -
Hortense Cézanne
Pierre Yvon -
Batistin Baille
Sabine Azéma -
Elisabeth Cézanne
Gérard Meylan -
Louis-Auguste Cézanne
Laurent Stocker -
Ambroise Vollard
Isabelle Candelier -
Emilie Zola
Freya Mavor -
Jeanne
Félicien Juttner -
Guy de Maupassant
Flore Babled -
Angèle Baille
Romain Cottard -
Camille Pissarro
Alexandre Kouchner -
Auguste Renoir
Romain Lancry -
Anchille Emperaire
Country: France
Language: French
Release Date: 3 Jan 2016
Filming Locations: Cassis, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
Technical Specs
Runtime:
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User Review
Author:
Rating: 5/10
You wouldn't miss much if you watched this movie with the sound off.
Some of the cinematography, especially of outdoor scenes in Provence,
is just astoundingly beautiful. Some is very reminiscent of Le Château
de ma mère and the scenes in la garrigue.
The acting is all fine. Guillaume Canet is a fine performer and does a
good job, but he is not the seriously obese and not handsome man that
the real Zola was.
The big problem here is the script. It starts with an imaginary meeting
between Zola and Cézanne in 1888, two years after Zola permanently
alienated the painter with his novel L'Oeuvre (The Great Work of Art).
It then moves back and forth between the present and various scenes in
the two men's past friendship. There is nothing wrong with that as a
format, but the dialogue is way too stereotypical. If these men had
been so pleasant, their friendship would not have come to an end. There
is no real attempt to explore why Zola turned on the Impressionists,
yet that is really the center of the story.
So, my recommendation would be to watch this with the sound off.
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