Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful, faithful film...
Review: A few years ago, on a beautiful sunny March day, I visited the house and grounds of the Rodin museum, formerly the home of Auguste Rodin. The museum sits very near a hospital Napoleon commissioned and is in a central tourist area, but it was not overrun with tourists the day I visited. The weather was so nice, I decided to have lunch in the pavillion on the grounds and eventually spent half a day wondering around the various scuptures situated indoors and outside. The 'Thinker' sat contemplating a nearby bush while a little bird landed on his shoulder, and Balzac looked down in triump from his pedestal. But, inside the house, I found a little room dedicated to the work of Camille Claudel, and here I paused the longest. It struck me then that while Rodin dealt with the external, Claudel dealt with the internal--the soul. I'm a small fan of sculpture, but the marble pieces Claudel worked with her hands are amazing. "Life-like" does not say enough. One piece, a marble bust of a child's head and shoulders took my breath away. I kept waiting for the child to breathe. I checked to see if she was breathing. The only pieces I have seen that are comparable were executed by Micheangelo. The film CAMILLE CLAUDEL is worthy of the heroine and her sad story. Rodin treated her badly, if for no other reason than he had no right to become sexually involved with her when she was his employee and he was a married man. Today he would be locked up for sexual harrassment, and Claudel would not spend most of her life locked up because she became "hysterical" after he dumped her. But, Rodin's greatest sin may have been that he became involved with Claudel because he recognized her genius and he wanted to exploit it. Although Rodin certainly had some interesting ideas, which he managed to execute in a prolific way (the Rodin house shows a continuous and ridiculous film of Rodin "creating" a sculpture), I don't think he was terribly innovative. In fact, if the "Thinker" had not been made into book ends, most people would probably not know who Rodin was. Isabel Adjani plays Claudel. She is perfectly cast as Camille, and her performance is as stunning as it was in Queen Margo. Adjani is one of France's best living actresses--in fact, I think she is the best. Gerhard Depardieu plays Rodin, and he well cast as the large, beefy, inarticulate, egocentric artist. In fact, he looks exactly like the man in the little film I saw in Paris, just as Adjani looks like the Claudel from her portraits. The film was shot in Paris, and much of the footage taken at the Rodin museum, a Chateau constructed by a 18th Century Aristocrat who died at the hands of Madame Guilliotine. Buy the film and then visit the Rodin museum in Paris to see Claudel's work.
Rating:
Summary: Isabelle is one of the finest actresses ever
Review: Adjani is able to take the tyrannical, childish Claudel and portray her with not only intrigue but passion, allowing the viewer to overlook Claudel's whistful predicament. Adjani takes the audience wholeheartedly into Claudel's mind, heart, art, and world with complete empathy. Her portrayal of the sculptress gives great meaning and understanding to the behaviors that proved to be Claude's own undoing. With Adjani depressed and laying in a flooded apartment the audience has a desire to help her, rescue her, but if it were Claudel we'd most likely keep moving because of her pitifulness. Much of that credit goes to Adjani's beauty as well, not just her talent. Claudel was never as beautiful as Adjani, sorry, tis true, and Claudel should thank Adjani for using her beauty to highlight her life and draw attention to her works so that they could possibly one day finally be included in Art History texts properly. Because of this film we are able to begin to scratch the surface of the magnitude of the contribution of Claudel's sculptures in relation to the Impressionistic era as a whole. Although dead, she is clearly nudging her way into the art timeline and taking her rightful post. Good French film, a must have for art history buffs and small film lovers.
Rating:
Summary: MAGNIFIQUE!!!!!!!!
Review: Adjani is one of the most passionate performers I have ever seen. There are two scenes where she yells at Rodin that are very dramatic and emotional and you feel her pain, one is where she is yelling at him in her studio and another where she is yelling his name outside his home. Depardieu is amazing as Rodin. I don't speak French and followed by the subtitles. I would have never known "Camille Claudel" existed until this movie. She was brilliant, passionate, and it's a shame that she was driven mad by Rodin because she would have been the "female Michelangelo" but wound up spending her last years in a mental institution and most of her sculptures ruined and destroyed by her madness. A must see!
Rating:
Summary: POWERFUL! Adjani's performance is heart-wrenching!!!
Review: Although this film is the story of an artist and does contain many scenes of art in progress, it plays more like a character study than a bioflick on Camille Claudel. It does run a bit long (a near three hours) but it is worth the time. Isabelle Adjani is masterfully brillant throughout. This is the sort of part which demands everything that an actor can give, and boy, did she deliver! If you are learning the art of acting, this can seriously be used as a textbook. Not to take anything away from Gerard Depardieu's commanding performance, but Isabelle Adjani is one of those actors that has mastered the use of body language. Her stares, breathing, flinches, smiles, all tell the story so powerfully, that this movie could have been filmed in silence. Adjani has provided with this performance, a trip through the heart and mind that is painstakingly rendered through flawless cinematography and direction. You can't ask for a better work of art from an actress and crew than this; it wouldn't be fair.
Rating:
Summary: 'Camille' est magnifique!
Review: As a French major, this is an excellent film. The language is clear (the nudity is a little inappropriate for some ages, though). I've seen this film twice some months apart and each time it was certainly engaging. The pace was a little frustrating near the end, but considering the topic at hand (the demise of a promising artist), it is understandable. What does make an impression are the images. Many of the scenes have almost a photographic quality - very nice cinematography. The relationship between Camille and Rodin is very full of little nuances that keep the viewer engaged, too. This is a great film for pleasure, an art classroom or a history class. Obviously, francophiles would love it, were they to see it!
Rating: 
Summary: Good!
Review: Camille Claudel is a must-see. There are various topics in it that make this film interesting: the struggle of women artists of that time; the influence of Rodin on her artistic and personal life; her father's support and insight for his daughter; insanity as product of social misconception on females' role in the art world. Great acting and a superb story. The only drawback is that it seems to be told entirely by the 'pro-Claudel's side of view'. In spite of that, this is still a movie that has depth and gives an accurate picture of that passion and conflict for being a fine artist.
Rating:
Summary: Passionate, Creative and Tragic, A True Art Movie
Review: I began watching this film on a late night of insomnia....it didn't help me to sleep and that's a good thing! Isabelle Adjani artfully plays real life French sculpturess, Camille Claudel. She displays pure emotion and passionate reactions such that she is completely believable as the tragic yet talented Claudel. Claudel becomes Auguste Rodin's assistant and eventual lover/muse. They fight and compete for fame together and seperately with Claudel always the more talented but underscored by Rodin's jealously and fierce connections to the art world. In the end Claudel succumbs to a broken and ravaged heart betrayed in many ways by her one true love, Rodin. I recently returned from a trip to Paris and having seen first hand the sculptures created by Claudel and Rodin I am even more impressed with this tragic story of talented yet conflicted artists. To see the obvious gentleness with which Claudel can carve marble and to feel the warmth that stems from a slab of cold stone left me mesmerized by her talent. Rodin appears clumsy and inept next to her creations despite his world reknown fame. I will always wonder what a woman of her talent could have created had she been alive today and not under the influence of an egotistical maniac!
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: I saw the movie on cable and it was a fascinating story about the sculptress Camille Claudel and her lover Renoir. She was a talented artist in the beginning with ambitions. Then she gets involved with Renoir, a womanizing artist and a married man. She forgets herself in his world and when he doesn't choose between her and his wife, she leaves feeling as if he is at fault for her waning popularity. Claudel was a talented artist of her day when women were considered second-class citizens and encouraged by her father to be the person she was. Unfortunately, she came across disappointment and mental distress when her relationship with Renoir ended. While she was his mistress, she wasn't herself, and without him, she lost her spirit. Her brother, who was considered the troublemaker, made himself a well-known person in diplomacy and literature. The movie examines the close relationship between Paul and his sister. It was sad that her relationship with her mother was never restored. She always felt she was a threat to her because of her work. Her father was supportive through and through. What disappointed him was the daughter that changed into someone else's shadow. Camille was a gifted woman of her time. Had she kept her sanity and let go of the demons, she would have maintained high status as Collette. The movie was a very interesting movie to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: I saw the movie on cable and it was a fascinating story about the sculptress Camille Claudel and her lover Renoir. She was a talented artist in the beginning with ambitions. Then she gets involved with Renoir, a womanizing artist and a married man. She forgets herself in his world and when he doesn't choose between her and his wife, she leaves feeling as if he is at fault for her waning popularity. Claudel was a talented artist of her day when women were considered second-class citizens and encouraged by her father to be the person she was. Unfortunately, she came across disappointment and mental distress when her relationship with Renoir ended. While she was his mistress, she wasn't herself, and without him, she lost her spirit. Her brother, who was considered the troublemaker, made himself a well-known person in diplomacy and literature. The movie examines the close relationship between Paul and his sister. It was sad that her relationship with her mother was never restored. She always felt she was a threat to her because of her work. Her father was supportive through and through. What disappointed him was the daughter that changed into someone else's shadow. Camille was a gifted woman of her time. Had she kept her sanity and let go of the demons, she would have maintained high status as Collette. The movie was a very interesting movie to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Merveilleux!
Review: I saw the movie when it first came out. I was then a high school student. We went to one of the most appropriate movie theaters for this movie. The movie theater was in the old European town of Galata (Istanbul). The theater was well over hundred years old and had an inverted half dome shape. I remember being very much touched with the sensuality of the movie. Years has passed and I still can not forget how bewitched I was by the realism of the movie. Both Isabelle Adjani and Gerard Depardieu were fabulous.
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