Saturday, March 21, 2015

FIFA 2015: Gustav Courbet


LES PETITS SECRETS DES GRANDS TABLEAUX
COURBET, L’ATELIER DU PEINTRE

FRANCE / 2014 / COLOR / 26 MIN / FRENCH

Production Team

Realisation: Clément Cogitore
Script: Thomas Cheysson, Elisabeth Couturier
Editing: Erwann Chabot, Julien Ngo Trong
Music: Roque Rivas
Narration: Clémentine Célarié
Producer(s): Sophie Goupil, Daniel Khamdamov
Production: Les Poissons Volants, ARTE France, Les petits secrets des grands tableaux
Distribution: ARTE France

Official Synopsis

'Of all the paintings of Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), The Painter’s Studio is undoubtedly the most mysterious. In this complex allegorical work, Courbet portrays the French society of his time. He is offering his own vision, as suggested by his central position in the canvas. This socially engaged work can be seen as a manifesto. “It’s the people who come to me to be painted,” he declared. “On the right, all the shareholders, that is, friends, fellow workers, devotees of the art world. On the left are the other people from everyday life, the masses, misery, poverty, wealth, the exploited and the exploiters, people who make a living from death.” The painting transports us back to the Second Empire, a few years after the Revolution of July 1848.'

Although this film is only 26 minutes long, it succeeds extremely well in acquainting a spectator with the painter's life and aspirations, with his creative impulse and with his contemporaries. Above everything else, it deciphers the composition of Courbet's monumental painting The painter's Studio, the characters portrayed (they are all life-size), the inner meaning of the painting within its artistic form of expression, as well as the political reality of the painter's times.

For all those interested in the art history and in the majestic and renown paintings and painters from the past, this film is a must. Check this year's schedule of the Montreal's International Film of Festival on Art to see this and other films screened at the festival.

http://www.artfifa.com

Top photo courtesy of FIFA.
Film Review © 2015 Nadia Slejskova


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