Artemisia

Rating:
Summary: Interesting portrait of a 1600s female artist
Review: "Artemisia" concerns a teenage woman in 1600s Rome who wants to become an artist. She has the talent, no doubt, but is the wrong gender to make a go of it.

Artemisia's wonderfully supportive father, an artist himself, helps her to get some minor work painting frescoes. But what Artemisia really wants is to learn, and to learn from the best. Thus she approaches Tasso, a well-known artist who has a taste for the debauched (ever-curious about the subject of human sexuality, Artemisia spies on him while he is at a bordello).

It will come as no surprise that Tasso and Artemisia eventually begin an affair after her father convinces Tasso to teach her. The affair is open to interpretation--did Tasso rape Artemisia, or did he initiate her sexually because they really loved each other? This becomes an important point later in the film as Tasso goes on trial for raping her.

I will not spoil the outcome of the trial. In fact, the trial is the least interesting aspect of the film. Far more interesting is Artemisia's growth as an artist and her struggle against male-dominated artistic convention. All the performances are sound, but Valentina Cervi as Artemisia is a wonder, simultaneously innocent and relentlessly curious.

I recommend this film for lovers of foreign films (the film is in French with English subtitles) and those interested in the subject of women artists and their struggles.

Rating:
Summary: AESTHETICLY PLEASING, BUT INACCURATE
Review: A typical paen of self-adoration that results when a film is made by artists, about artists, for artists. The title character's neurotically self-absorbed and abrasive behaviour is glorifed due to the fact that she's an artist and, being part of that group's self proclaimeded elite status, her actions are romanticized rather than receiving the contempt that such behaviour usually warrants. While this film is beautifully shot, it's more of a theoretical (or more accurately, mythological) ideal of the struggling artist held back by the lack of vision of those around them, rather than an attempt at accurrate biography. Among other things, the artist accused of raping her was actually around the same age as her father, but in the film he's a more agreeably youthful middle-aged man with somewhat attractive looks. Apparently artists, especially those who made this film, are like politicians in that they prefer what's useful to what's true.

Rating:
Summary: Another Feminist Harangue...
Review: Another feminist diatribe that wants to be taken as "serious cinema." You've heard it before, and here it is again: Women rule, men are pigs. Characters are disconcertingly one-dimensional. Dialogue could have been written in one's sleep; neither humor nor passion in evidence here. Nice (though not outstanding) cinematography; excessive use of bronze-tone filters. Really, if you want yet another feminist harangue, this is the movie for you... In a movie such as this, it would have been prudent at least -- at the end, as the credits rolled by? -- to have included full blown reproductions of the artist's works, which may have sparked some genuine interest in her as a person.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Historical Drama; Beautiful Scenery and Costumes
Review: Being an art and art history buff, I fell in love with this movie. It is superbly directed and the character of Artemisia draws the viewer right into Baroque Italy. I have to wonder if this historical drama is accurate, however- as I have always read that Artemisia Gentilleschi was raped by her drawing instructor, Tassi. Now I am left wondering if the history books took his prosecution at face value, if the writer of the screenplay did some in-depth investigating, or if she romanticized the story for dramatic effect (I would be very interested to hear any other viewer's opinion on this).

Whether the story is accurate or not, I felt that Valentina Cervi did an especially good job in the leading role as Artemisia. Michel Serrault's role of Tassi makes me want to see more by this actor. The sets and costumes were also entrancing.

If you are in the mood for a good romantic and historic drama, this is a good one to see. If you can't stand subtitles and don't have a romantic bone in your body, this is probably not for you.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful.... par excellence
Review: Best film i've seen about an artist in a long time. ..and its a Woman too. A true great movie

Rating:
Summary: Sloppy, inaccurate period costume flick
Review: Everybody else has clarified for you that the REAL Artemisia's story is not told here and is actually "inverted", i.e. they turn the story of her rape into a consensual love affair.

But that's far from the worst thing...I think the worst thing about this smarmy, heavy-breathing costume flick is that it makes the story of a brilliant woman painter's career into a story about who she sleeps with. And that's a terrible injustice.

The least interesting thing about Artemisia Gentilleschi is her sex life. If this film had the slightest integrity it would have at least shown her paintings. If you viewed this movie and had no other knowledge of the artist and the historical period, you would come away feeling you had watched a 17th century version of the Red Shoe Diaries...i.e., softcore porn, in this case focused on the smarmily told sexual awakening of a pretty teenage girl. Ugh.

You can skip this one... or watch if if you are an adult, but please please do not offer it up to a youngster, especially a girl, as any kind of "life of the artist" type of film (like the vastly superior "Frida" about Frida Kahlo), because this movie just sends absolutely the wrong kind of message to girls, that your sexuality is the most interesting thing about you, and talent is only another way to get laid.

Rating:
Summary: A great movie!
Review: Historical debate aside, the movie was well filmed and enjoyable to watch. As a previous reviewer mentioned... it did cause me to read more about her and look at some of her paintings... so the more the better! As with many historical controversies, looking at different viewpoints AND doing your own research/thinking on the subject is the only way to go! ex: Did Shakespeare really write all those plays????

Rating:
Summary: good scenery, pretty costumes, however
Review: Historically inaccurate, as has been mentioned before. Before you see the movie search online for Artemisia's work. If the director, in her movie had shown the very powerful piece "Susannah and the Elders" her theory of Artemisia's romance with Tassi would have been ripped to shreds. Only a woman suffering from circumstance and a cruel injustice could've depicted scenes with such passion. In the painting Susannah's face and posture show such despair and hopelessness. Also, Judith and Holofernes (sp?), it doesn't take a genius to see the violence there. For Heaven's sake, she's sawing his head off, no quick slice there! Judith's face is one of grim determination. Plus only a female director who submits passively to domestic abuse and lacks self esteem or vision can make a rape into a gentle love affair(yes, I am saying I think the director needs counseling). Plus the movie never mentions the fact that Tassi attempted to have his wife killed on five different occasions. See this great woman's work, don't buy the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Not the True story, but Still Impressive.
Review: I am sure this has already been mentioned: this film is basically the reverse story of the real Artemisia Gentileschi (hope I spelled that correctly!) Well, fiction is sometimes more entertaining than truth, and I'm sure that this is what Ms. Merlet had in mind. Very sexually graphic, but if a viewer can see the human body as just another art form, this film should be covered. (No pun intended.)

Rating:
Summary: Not feminist. Not anti-feminist. Just bad.
Review: I cannot see why this movie was attacked by feminists. Artemisia loses her human lover, but never once is her muse endangered; her power is maintained intact. I cannot see why this movie is attacked for being too feminist. Artemisia has little to no identifiable personality: she loves to paint, and is a hypersexualized voyeur. Within the scope of the movie itself, she displays nothing in the way of power; she is continually at the mercy of her father, Tassi, and the Church, and her resistance is more petulance than spirit.

Ultimately, however, this is a movie, and must be judged as such. And, as such, I found it sorely lacking. The characters were shallow, the plot meandering. There was no sense of emotional or psychological depth; whispered mutterings about disjointed images do not count. For a movie about a painter, the visuals were eminently forgettable -- and I say that as a professional artist myself.

And, while we're picking nits, most of the clothing was just as questionably accurate as the details of the story itself. It was clearly designed for ease of removal, rather than historical verismilitude.

Which brings us back to the intent of the film's makers, and their choices in presentation. To reiterate, this is a movie, not a scholarly biography. Yet, the cover copy does flatly state that this is "the highly provocative true story" of Artemisia Gentileschi. That is debatable, at best, and flat out fraudulent at worst. The story presented in the historic accounts strikes me as a far stronger one: a 17 year old girl defying torture to have her rapist held accountable for his crimes. This is the story of a woman strong enough to be the first to enter the Academy. The pouting, prancing, rather stupid girl of the movie just seems to skate through, and the film does not create sufficient tension to carry the day. She neither scores a meaningful victory (her artistic success is only presented in a textual epilogue splashed onto the screen) nor does she suffer a tragic defeat (sure, she loses her lover, but she has a long, successful, and fulfilling life thereafter.) In short, there's nothing, really, to make a movie about.

Oh, wait. There are lots of naked people. That explains it.