Seraphine (2008) User Reviews (35)

A visionary artist, her sometime mentor, and her sad decline

[Chris Knipp · 8/10 · 23 February 2009]

Veteran actress Yolande Moreau gives a dedicated performance in this biopic about the neo-primitive, or "naive," or "outsider" flower painter Séraphine Louis (1864-1948), now called Séraphine de Senlis, from the town where she worked. An orphan looked down on by all, she survived barely by doing cleaning and laundry paid by the job, but in her little room in town at night by candlelight made strange, visionary paintings of flowers in large clusters, looking like diamonds or insects. Raised and cared for in early life by nuns, she sang to the Virgin when she finished a painting. Beautifully photographed, meditative, with a strong sense of the quietude of rural France in the teens and twenties, this picture doesn't provide deep insight into either Séraphine or the German art collector who discovered and supported her, Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur, another veteran; he has one of the secondary leads in The Lives of Others). Uhde deserves his own biopic. He was the first to purchase the works of Picasso and discovered the great modern primitive Henri "Le Douanier" Rousseau.

Slowly, methodically, the film shows how Uhde finds out by chance that the haggard looking middle aged woman cleaning up in the big rented house he's living in in Senlis with his sister is doing unique paintings on wood. Nobody else around appreciates them or, in fact, understands modern art. He buys all her work from Séraphine and urges her to concentrate on her art. But WWI comes, and as a German he is forced to leave precipitously, leaving behind his little notebook and most of the art he's collected in France.

Uhde returns years later with his sister and also a male lover, Helmut Kolle (Nico Rogner), a talented young German expressionist painter dying of TB, and rents another house in the area. He comes across Séraphine's work and finds it more ambitious and much more brilliant. He puts her on a generous monthly stipend. She shows signs of mania, and her disappointment when she finds the Paris exhibition must be put off due to the worldwide financial crisis leads her into insanity. The trajectory is ever downward, though the final scenes suggest that her last years in a sanatorium may have been spend it serenity, close to the nature she loved.

This film is thorough and handsomely made, but a little too much on the dutiful and academic side. It has parallels as a story with Bruno Nuytten's 1988 Camille Claudel, but it has neither the level of drama nor the presence of Gérard Depardieu and Isabelle Adjani (as Rodin and Claudel) to give it energy. As director Provost has said, Uhde had a "dark side": his willingness to virtually abandon Séraphine when things got rough for her, and not to bother looking for her when he first returns to France after the War. Provost leaves this mysterious, which is just historically, but unsatisfying cinematically. But Provost did apparently help organize the recent Musée Maillol exhibition of Séraphine's work. And this film is a thought-provoking addition to the on-screen literature of outsider or visionary art.

The film opened in theaters in Paris on October 1, 2008 to respectful if not overly enthusiastic reviews. It has been bought by Music Box in the US, but no release has been announced. Shown as part of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Lincoln Center, NYC, in March 2009.

What if ?...

[FrenchEddieFelson · 7/10 · 25 February 2019]

The French movie Séraphine traces two decades of the life of Séraphine de Senlis, a French painter, self-taught, of very modest origin and died in misery. By chance, during the same week, I saw At Eternity's Gate and then Séraphine. Obviously, two very different ways of filming for 2 distinct painters with both an all-consuming passion and a growing madness. What if? What would have happened if Séraphine de Senlis had been exposed in 1913, rue Notre Dame des Champs, within Paris, by Wilhelm Uhde, and if the First World War had not occurred?

Polished enchantment

[Chris_Docker · 7/10 · 8 September 2009]

Cinema is a language of deception. The set we see, the mise-en-scene, is what the director wants us to see. Conditioning us visually before an actor even speaks their lines. In costume dramas, the historical clothing is a further weapon to impress a specific artistic vision on us, further cloaking any subtext, whether the transformation of a marriage market story into 'rom-com' (Pride & Prejudice) or consciously travestying the past (Moulin Rouge!, Marie Antoinette). French cinema has achieved respected and less controversial use of costume with films like Jean de Florette and Manon des sources. In these examples, beautiful, nostalgic settings were contrasted with dystopian visions of the hard life. When we move to the biopic, cinematic techniques are routinely used to persuade us of 'what really happened.' Séraphine continues the proud French tradition of costume and historical drama, yet in a very accessible vein. It tells the (true) story of a minor French painter, Séraphine Louis (later known as Séraphine de Senlis, after the village where she lived.) Our story picks up Séraphine working as a maid for Madame Duphot. This lady of the house also rents an apartment to a German art critic-dealer, Wilhelm Uhde. Uhde believes in the 'primitive' artists and takes a liking to some of the maid's work he spots. Yolande Moreau's assured performance gives weight to what may be an unvarnished account. The discovery of the peasant woman's talent, her humble charm as she goes about collecting the ingredients for paint (wine, mud, fruits, flowers) as she goes about her chores as a domestic servant. Everything draws us sympathetically into Séraphine's world.

Udhe nurtures Séraphine's embryonic talent, ensuring it is seen worldwide. But as war hits the economy, support evaporates. Séraphine's inner voices of inspiration lead her to psychosis and she meets her demise in an insane asylum.

The painting itself is of the so-called 'naïve' style, characterized by childlike simplicity. (One of the most famous exponents, according to some, is L. S. Lowry.) The style seems natural to the childlike (if brilliant) personality of our peasant woman, although of course many naive art painters, including Lowry had, unlike Séraphine, plenty of schooling and formal knowledge of art technique.

Production values in the film are high all round. Costume, acting, direction, all achieve a high standard, as evidenced by the many awards heaped on it in its own country. The overall effect is touching without being sentimental.

Séraphine is a continuation of one woman's barely recognised legacy. Any subtext is about serving up a fine character from France's past, a commemoration of national greatness from the early 20th century. (Visits to the exhibition of her work in Senlis have, predictably, quadrupled since the release of the film.) If there is any ideological weakness, it is simply that held by the character herself, a Christian attitude of sacrifice and acceptance of fate. There is no strong judgement on whether Séraphine could have lived her life differently. No real analysis of her painting style. It is, after all, a classy and enchanting fairy tale hung on the hook of a historical person, a harmless deception perhaps. The viewer, should she or he wish, can make their own judgement. Just as they can on the deeply religious and fairly distinctive artworks she left for posterity.

Séraphine itself is a work of art

[howard.schumann · 9/10 · 19 July 2009]

A frumpy cleaning woman well into middle age is discovered by an art critic to be a painter with talent comparable to Vincent Van Gogh. Her story is told in the riveting Seraphine, directed by Martin Provost and winner of seven Césars, the French version of the Oscars, including a best actress award for Yolande Moreau. With a screenplay by Martin Provost and Marc Abdelnour, the film is set in the village of Senlis outside of Paris where Séraphine Louis (Yolande Moreau) lives alone and must take odd jobs just to pay for her painting supplies. Séraphine is a visionary, a devout Catholic who believes she is guided by a guardian angel and her exotic paintings of flowers and plants describe her feelings of closeness to spirit.

Treated with disdain by her condescending employer, her life takes on new meaning when a tenant, German art critic Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur) hires Séraphine to clean for him and accidentally discovers one of her paintings that her boss had tossed aside. A champion of modern "primitvist" artists who is credited with early recognition of Picasso and Rousseau, Uhde is portrayed by Tukur as a quiet, unassuming man who lives with his sister and a gay lover. He recognizes Séraphine's talent but never shows much enthusiasm, preferring to keep their relationship on a very business-like basis.

Impressed by Seraphine's passionate art, Uhde offers to become her patron but, feeling estranged in France, must soon leave the country to return to Germany as the First World War begins. Although Séraphine continues to paint, she has no connection with Uhde until the latter part of the 1920s when he provides her with the means to quit her job and paint full time. Unfortunately, her grip on reality falters and she is soon hospitalized after indulging in spending sprees on a wedding dress and purchase of a large mansion. One of the saddest scenes in the film is that of Séraphine dressed in a full wedding gown, going door to door giving her away her possessions.

Provost in Séraphine captures the artist's mystical nature and her close bond with nature that shows up in her works, which are still exhibited in many of the world's museums. She is shown hugging trees, climbing them, and standing as a tiny speck beneath a towering shade tree. One scene shows her standing nude in water up to her chest in a nearby river. Provost takes a minimalist approach and the film does not contain much dialogue. The story is told by the silences and facial expressions and the music by Michael Galasso adds richness to the experience. Fully capturing the eternal mystery of the creative process, Séraphine itself is a work of art.

She Saw the Flowers of Eden

[JustApt · 10/10 · 11 November 2009]

This extraordinary biographical film tells the dramatic story of French paintress Séraphine de Senlis. The tale starts in the summer before the First World War when a known German art collector and critic Wilhelm Uhde accidentally finds out that his servant woman is an amateur artiste painting in naïve but highly innovative and original style. She was doing so because she had a vision of divine being who has told her to begin to paint pictures. Where does genius end and madness begin? Or are they just two sides of the same phenomenon? Questions poised by this artful drama hardly have the answers. To say that Yolande Moreau playing the role of Séraphine Louis is unique is to say the least. Camille Claudel is another brilliant movie in the same vein.

A poem about shadow

[Vincentiu · 2 April 2010]

An artist. Fragile, gray, small. Some dreams. A fall. And drops of hope. Few images. A mecena. In fact, story of an ordinary existence. Testimony of forms of beauty . Words of a warm confession, with a brilliant Yolande Moreau and an great director. Everything is in best place. Light and cast, details and looks. And the air of small persons , delicate gestures, definition of art and art as refuge are pieces of this movie. So, it is not a biographic film. Seraphines are many men and women, basic instruments for others who believes that life is more than lies and hypocrisy. Beginning for discover of reality without appearance, sad and beautiful, poem about shadows of a fight, word of a late fame, "Seraphine" must be see again and again. In every Senlis lives a Seraphine.

Beautiful cinematography and good acting don't equal a great film

[imanewmanfan · 7/10 · 14 March 2009]

I enjoy French films very much and saw Seraphine in Paris. While the movie looks beautiful and the acting is excellent, overall the film bored me. There wasn't enough dramatic tension or intense character development to sustain my interest. I was very surprised that it won so many awards, but then again if the French academy is similar to the one in the U.S., they tend to play it safe. Seraphine is worth seeing if you are interested in thinking about the artistic soul. But there is nothing groundbreaking here. I would have liked to see a version of this artist's life that was less academic and more thought provoking. The one thing I admired very much was the performance of the lead actress. I was trying to imagine anyone equivalent to her in the U.S. and was unable to conjure any names. She is not classically beautiful, yet clearly she is an actress of great stature in France to have won this role. The lesson I took away from the film was the appreciation of talent, both of Seraphine and the actress who portrayed her.

An Obsession to Paint

[gradyharp · 10/10 · 18 July 2010]

Séraphine de Senlis - born Séraphine Louis (1864- 1942) - may not be a painter well known to the entire art world today, but the story of her life makes a compelling film. Writer Marc Abdelnour and writer/director Martin Provost have extracted all of the significant aspects of Séraphine Louis' life and have created a work of art as a film, much in the style of the way she created her life in art.

Séraphine Louis (Yolande Moreau) was born in 1864 in Arcy to a poor family and worked as a shepherdess until 1881 when she accepted the position as a domestic worker for the Sisters of Providence in Clermont: her life with the nuns enhanced her profoundly religious approach to her personal philosophy. In 1901 she left the convent, in part due to a communication with her angel that she must paint, to become a housekeeper for middle class families in Senlis. In her quiet manner she scrubbed floors and did laundry by day, using the pittances of income to procure some supplies so that she could paint her images of fruits, flowers, and leaves by candlelight at night in her tiny room. Self taught, she used pigment from strange sources - blood from the butcher, melted wax from the votives at the cathedral, pollen from the flowers of the fields, her only 'purchased' component was gesso and white paint from the artist supply shop in Senlis.

In 1914 the German art collector and critic Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur) took a room in the house owned by Mme Duphot (Geneviève Mnich), one of the houses where Séraphine worked, and when Wilhelm discovered a painting by Séraphine he immediately recognized a painter of great promise and provided Séraphine with the first response to her artistic efforts. Wilhelm and Séraphine became friends and Wilhelm bought all of her art, insisting that she devote her time to creating art instead of scrubbing floors. With the backing of a collector and friend, Séraphine began painting in earnest, showing locally and selling art under Wilhelm's sponsorship, until 1914 when with WW I breaking out, Wilhelm had to flee France, leaving behind his collection of paintings as well as the close bond the two had formed. Mistakenly Séraphine thought Wilhelm's departure was to marry his roommate Anne-Marie (Anne Bennett), only to discover that Anne-Marie was Wilhelm's sister and fellow supporter of Séraphine: Wilhelm informed her he would never be able to marry a woman.

Séraphine continued painting as she lead her eccentric life in Senlis and in 1927 Wilhelm returned to France with his paramour - young painter Helmut Kolle (Nico Rogner) who suffered from tuberculosis - rediscovers Séraphine's art in a local Senlis exhibition, and realizes that she had survived and her art had flourished. Under Wilhelm's patronage, Séraphine began painting large canvases as large as two meters high, and she achieved prominence as the naïve painter of her day. In 1929, Wilhelm organized an exhibition, 'Painters of the Sacred Heart', that featured Séraphine's art, launching her into a period of financial success she had never known - and was ill prepared to manage. Then, in 1930, with the effects of the Great Depression destroying the finances of her patrons, Wilhelm had no choice except to stop buying her paintings. Séraphine's spending habits cause concern and in 1932 her psychotic behavior resulted in placement in the psychiatric ward in Clermont hospital where she spent the rest of her days, alone and without friends or admirers of her gift of art.

The simplicity of the manner in which this story is related with very little dialogue, atmospheric scenery as captured by cinematographer Laurent Brunet, and a musical score by Michael Galasso that combines sacred chants with idiomatic instrumental music of French ancestry. Yolande Moreau glows with a special radiance as the simple, spiritual, artistically driven Séraphine and Ulrich Tukar is the perfect balance as his own driven, unique 'first true collector'. This film is a little masterpiece and one that deserves the attention of everyone who cares about the lives of artists and the emergence of genius from strange vessels.

Grady Harp

Well-crafted biopic of simple housekeeper turned acclaimed artist

[Turfseer · 7/10 · 17 November 2013]

Séraphine is a French-Belgian production about the housekeeper turned artist of the same name, who first gained fame between the last two World Wars. Creating films about famous artists are difficult since they're inherently not very dramatic. Highlighting the beauty of the artist's creation is one thing but designing a full-fledged drama concerning the artist and his/her interactions with the people they knew, could be problematic.

While I would not call the story of Séraphine a gripping tale where you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat, it does manage to hold your interest, despite its languid pace. It's in fact, a very well- crafted biopic, that features some sensational cinematography.

The story is rather simple. Séraphine is a devoted Catholic, middle-aged housekeeper who also happens to be a talented painter. She collects some of the ingredients for her paint from unusual sources including wax from candles in her local church, soil from plants and blood from a dead pig. One of the lodgers in a house she services is Uhde, an up and coming art critic and collector from Germany, who recognizes Séraphine's potential, despite disparaging remarks made about her artwork by the local gentry. Uhde even buys a few of Séraphine's paintings but eventually loses all his art possessions when World War I begins and he's forced to flee France, back to Germany.

When Uhde returns to France between the wars in 1927, he looks Séraphine up again and notes her skills have improved a hundred fold. Now she's creating large works of art on giant canvasses. For a time, Uhde is able to have Séraphine's artwork shown in well-known galleries and pays her money where she's able to rent her own apartment. The onset of the Depression causes the art market to collapse and Uhde is no longer able to provide Séraphine with financial support. This perhaps precipitates the onset of her mental illness and eventually Séraphine has to be hospitalized. Her treatment at the hospital is not good and she falls deeper into psychosis. Uhde finally is able to sell some of Séraphine's paintings by around 1935 and uses the proceeds to make her more comfortable at the hospital.

As noted above, 'Séraphine' is a slow-moving affair. Nonetheless, the method by which she creates her paintings, her religious zeal and her unusual relationship with Uhde, is enough for us to remain interested throughout. It's revealed at the end of the film that Séraphine never left the mental hospital and died in 1942. Uhde who was both gay and Jewish, was forced to hide in the South of France while the Nazis occupied the country. He died in 1947, two years after the end of World War II.

Portrait Of An Outsider

[druid333-2 · 10/10 · 16 August 2009]

Seraphine Louis,who would eventually change her name to Seraphine deSenlis (after the name of her hometown)was an artist who cleaned houses by day,and painted by night (all the time while singing the hymns of her staunch Catholic upbringing,while she was growing up an orphan by Nuns). Seraphine is pretty much maligned by the village locals,taunted by children,and pretty much avoided by most all that know her. When German art collector & critic,Wilhelm Uhde rents a room in the town of Senlis,while on the run from the insanity of World War I,and discovers a painting by Seraphine & is amazed by it's use of colour & texture. When the war moves ever closer,Uhde & his sister escapes the madness. Years later,he returns to Senlis,rediscovers an aged,but still painting Seraphine & vows to put her work on display (despite the fallout of the Wall Street crash of 1929,as well as the subsequent great depression,that managed to cripple a good percentage of Europe's economy,as well). Martin Provost directs & co writes (with Marc Abdelnoir)a lovingly depicted portrait of a woman possessed of genius that is cruelly stolen too early (deSenlis spent her aged years in an insane asylum & never painted again in life). Yolande Moreau plays Seraphine,a woman unpossesed by pretentious,real fine. Ulrich Tukur plays Wilhelm Uhde,in a winning role that depicts Uhde as an impresario of art first,and who's personal life is down played,somewhat (in life,Uhde was an ardent homosexual that made no bones about his gay lifestyle). The photography is a real treat for the eye (at times,the composition of visual images are very painterly,such as films such as 'Tous Le Matin Du Monde'). A film to check out for those with a love of art,or art history (or both). Spoken in French & German with English subtitles. Not rated by the MPAA,this film contains flashes of nudity & adult content.

An interesting story made uninteresting

[eddax · 7/10 · 18 February 2010]

Even though I'm an art plebeian, I find most biopics about artists (painters) interesting. Well not this one.

Not to say it was a bad movie. By most accounts it was a good one, with a mesmerizing performance by Yolande Moreau as the touched Seraphine de Senlis, and solid production values all around, though I'm hard-pressed to single out any one standout technical achievement. What was lacking for me was the story. Seraphine's isn't an unremarkable story, but somehow it comes across as one. It's like the director's way of storytelling is muted, to create a lack of excitement, or maybe I was too impatient with the movie, I don't know. Then again, I'm sure there's a reason why the director didn't win despite the movie sweeping most of the Cesar awards last year. I'm just saying.

passion of art

[dromasca · 9/10 · 20 December 2009]

The viewing of 'Seraphine' and the magnificent performance of Yolande Moreau, an actress who seems born to play this role reminded me a few other films who had on their center great artists devoted to their art up to the limits of mental sanity. Mel Ferrer's 'El Greco' and John Hurt's 'Vincent' come to my mind immediately.

The first part of the film happens in the treasonous summer of 1914, in the months before The Great War starts. The famous German art collector and critic Wilhelm Uhde (acted with welcome discretion by Ulrich Tukur), one of these man who do not buy art to resell it, but sell art to buy what they love finds summer refuge from Paris and his own daemons in the French countryside. He discovers to his surprise that the aging maid in the house is a painter, and a flamboyant one, despite her lack of artistic education or of any education. The war breaks, the German becomes the enemy and is obliged to flee France where he returns only one decade later.

Here happens one of the astounding scenes of the film. Ulrich comes to look for Seraphine, he does not know and we do not know if she is still alive, or if she is still willing to talk with the prospective protector who abandoned her. The scene is sordid, in a decrepit building filmed without inspiration (I believe that this is intentional, in this film only art and nature have color and beauty), the door is closed, and anything can happen at this point, even the end of the movie.

The door does open and the next and final part of the film is dedicated to the sudden success of Seraphine, her lack of capacity to deal with success, he sliding into insanity. It appears that her art origins in a mystic impulse, maybe an unhappy love story, but for an artist she says, love takes other paths than it does with common people. While in need and under harsh economic pressure her faith was channeled into art, when success comes she does not stop to create (actually creates some of her best works at this time) but her mystic beliefs try to find other ways of expression, which for the rest of the world belong to insanity.

Director Martin Provost makes a wise choice not to comment or direct the viewers into judging the character, but rather lets them draw their own conclusions. How can genius be judged, where is the real border between genius and insanity, aren't rather these the two faces of the personalities of many great artists? The scenes where we see Seraphine painting are magnificent, she is determined and fragile, naive and passionate.

The real Seraphine Louis or Seraphine de Senlis spent the last few years of her life in a mental institution exactly at the time when her work started to be known, appreciated, and loved by the art public world wide. The beautiful last scene shows her in a serene posture, in the middle of the nature which seems to have been together with love for God the principal source of inspiration of her work. I can only hope that her end was as serene as the last scene of this wonderful film.

Great acting, great cinematography - but not quite a great movie

[gsygsy · 6/10 · 12 July 2013]

Yolande Moreau, magnificent in the role of a lifetime, and Laurent Brunet's stunning photography provide - along with the artworks of Seraphine herself - reasons enough to see this film. Overall, the simple-story-simply-told feel of the movie started to loosen its grip on me at the start of its second hour. I think this may have been because the screenplay spends so much time on Uhde's rediscovery of Seraphine at that point, after the disruption of WW1. I mean no disrespect to Ulrich Tukur, who is terrific as Uhde, but I don't think it was the best use of screen time. Did we really need to dwell on someone arriving in Chantilly by car, having Uhde pick that person up in his own car, have the person - who turns out to be a journalist - interview Uhde at some length? It was interesting without being necessary, and contributed to a real dip in the movie's energy.

Once Ms Moreau reappeared the film was on course again. Maybe, then, we did have to leave her in order to return to her, but in my view the time away was not handled well. Hence 6 out of 10 for a work that, on the basis of its central performance and its cinematography, and indeed on the merits of its remarkable first hour, might have reached even greater heights.

Rich subject, well-meaning but poor film

[minamurray · 5/10 · 21 November 2009]

Seraphine Louis (1864-1942), who used the name Seraphine de Senlis (for the town where she worked), was French cleaning-woman who heared voices of angels and painted vivid flower arrangements. She was eventually closed into mental hospital. Unconventional and humanistic, Seraphine is a film which treats this obese middle-aged woman - who looked like a sweet old granny in the pictures I have seen - as a beautiful human being, unpolluted crazy visionary. Unfortunately film itself is academic with drab and ugly colours - so natural, so normal, so realistic. Subject was interesting and rich, film was well-meaning but poor.

As amazing as the paintings themselves

[very_evil_me · 8/10 · 10 July 2009]

Seraphine is this bumbling, childish, 'naive' woman. She is a humble cleaner who has a penchant for walks in the countryside and yet she paints gorgeously.

This film is very straight-forward. Its your usual artists tale and Seraphine depiction is rather clichéd. That artists are misunderstood, outcasts, and have crazed or in this case crazed religious beliefs. So the story isn't new, but it's told with simplicity and directness. The cinematography and art direction reflect this, nothing fancy here. The plot is again simple no twists to get lost on, little subtlety and few characters.

It's this simplicity from which the film draws its realism. That and the acting of Seraphine. The actress was spectacular, Seraphine is not an easy part to play, this innocence and true crazed underpinnings. Special note at hobbling, awkward walk, and difficult breathing. Another thing is that there are no beautiful people. Hollywood seems to have this obsession with beauty, so much so that everyone in their films is beautiful, Hollywood would never make Seraphine but if they did there's no doubt they have made her a stunner.

The beginning of this film is marvelous, as I went in not knowing what Seraphine was about and for the first say half hour we saw her as others saw her and when she started doing these weird things I thought, she is crazy! Then, when she started painting I went, Oh! The surprise was delightful. The film then went on in a regular way but I don't like the ending, I think perhaps I just feel sorry for her.

The paintings are crazy like her, they're intense and the flowers sinister and unreal. The paintings show that under the simplicity, there's something more. And that is like this film.

I appreciate how the film gives the whole story.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 21 December 2011]

When it comes to historical films, I am one of the most critical people you'll find. That's because as a retired history teacher, I often notice that films often re-write history to make a good story. A good example is "Julie and Julia"--a film that whitewashes one of the protagonists (Julie) to make a sweet story. So, when a film gets the story right--telling the WHOLE story--I really appreciate it.

"Séraphine" is the unusual and tragic story of a strange figure in the art world, Séraphine Louis. She was an untrained middle-aged domestic worker who has a mission from God--to paint, paint, paint. But she was not painting to sell her work--she was painting because voices told her she MUST paint. Eventually, she was discovered by a German art dealer--but WWI intervened and her whereabouts were lost for over a decade. What happens next is very exciting and very, very tragic. I'd say more, but don't want to ruin the film. But what I will say is that if you want a nice, happy ending, then you should probably NOT see this film.

This is a very slow film. This is NOT a negative thing--I liked how the film slowly unfolded. But I mention this because I cannot imagine the average viewer enjoying this film--or at least someone who wants a traditional Hollywood style film. But, if you are willing to sit back and watch, it's well worth your time.

Seven Cesars can't be wrong

[harry_tk_yung · 23 January 2010]

Winning seven Cesar awards against tough competitors like "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime" says a lot. The biopic of French painter Seraphine de Senlis, born Seraphine Louis (Yolande Moreau), at the turn of the last century is among the best that the French cinema has offered.

The story of the title protagonist is told in a way you wouldn't find in Hollywood – no fancy montages, no flashy flashbacks, no annoying voice-over, no pretentious twist and turns. Yet in the simple narrative that contains quite a large number of very short scenes, the story is mesmerizing. With the skillful camera as proxy, you are placed in the position of an intelligent observer of the somewhat enigmatic protagonist. Unlike many others, the movie makers of this film do not try to force on you pseudo profound analysis littered with Freudian complexes and childhood trauma.

The film starts with an adult Seraphine and never turns back to talk about her earlier days except for a very brief mention, by herself, of an early romance that bore to significant consequences. Instead, it focuses aptly on the two most important things about her: her love of nature and her talent for painting. Attentive with character development and crisps with event narration, the filmmakers in turn paint a vivid portray of Seraphine: lowly housekeeper and laundress, plain appearance, childlike disposition, simple religious devotion, subdued but keen observer and a passion for conveying the beauty of nature on to canvas. She is "ahead of her time" in her style of painting that art critic Wilhelm Udhe (Ulrich Tukur) prefers to describe with the term "primitive modernism" rather than the more unflattering "naïve".

The relationship between Seraphine and Wilhelm her mentor is tantalizingly subtle. There is little about Seraphine that is sensually attractive and what's more. Wilhelm is homosexual. And yet, there is something between them that is akin to Platonic love. Quite revealing is Wilhelm's characterization of himself as "not collect to be able to sell, but rather to seller to be able to collect". A true lover and connoisseur of art, he would naturally love Seraphine for her talent and work. On her part, she is not incapable of romantic tendencies as mentioned above, but just imprisoned by her lowly status and unattractive appearance. Wilhelm is someone who can truly see how beautiful she is and her infatuation for him is only natural, as in her jealousy of a woman who later turns out to be his sister.

The seven Cesars include best film, cinematography and Moreau's what must be a very close (but very deserved) win over Kristin Scott Thomas who is nothing short of brilliant in "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime".

Simple life

[alexmccourt · 7/10 · 31 December 2009]

Affecting biopic about a French cleaning lady, Seraphine Louis, who escapes her monotonous existence by walking in the countryside and painting colourful representations of what she sees there.

Then along comes a German art critic who likes what he sees and gives her hope that one day soon she will become rich and famous. Problem is the first world war starts and he has to flee the country.

He comes back a few years after the war ends expecting that Seraphine has died, but comes across a painting of hers in a local exhibition and gets in touch again.

Anyway, the subtleties of this film, for me, lay first of all in the artist's love of the countryside and obsessive desire to represent this in her own way. Then, her touching reliance on her menial work and her art to support her fragile mental health. And, finally, the relationship between the art critic and his protégé. Although he respects her art and talent, you get the feeling that he can't quite get away from the fact that she is, after all, just a cleaning lady.

What's being naive?

[stensson · 8/10 · 5 July 2009]

Séraphine was one of these so called common people who in the early 1900s were discovered. The expression "discovered" is not wrong, but that wasn't just about the person, it's was also about another type of seeing and another type of expression.

Séraphine lived a poor and humiliating life like most women of her class. Then this German art collector finds her. But it stops there, because for certain reasons he in the end can't improve her life materially. And the result is disastrous, because it means betrayal of a person, although not of her art.

A silent realistic movie, there you can smell the poverty and despair.

Flowing like rivers

[adachen-98862 · 7/10 · 30 November 2022]

A very quiet biographical film. The pace of the movie is very slow, and the story is presented to me slowly. There is no passionate surge, no trough of sadness, is calm. Everything passes quietly, like history, like a river flowing. A very quiet biographical film. The pace of the movie is very slow, and the story is presented to me slowly. There is no passionate surge, no trough of sadness, is calm. Everything passes quietly, like history, like a river flowing. At the end, Serafina pushed open the gate and returned to the trees on the hillside. She sat under the tree, and the spring was spring, and the gods were asleep, and the breeze was blowing through the trees.

Seraphine Seraphim

[writers_reign · 10/10 · 20 November 2009]

It's always a joy when major gongs go to the right people especially when the right people are less than high profile, less than glamorous, less than charismatic - one thinks, for example of Brod Crawford, a more than worthy winner of his Best Actor Oscar for Al The King's Men, or Ernie Borgnine who received the same distinction a few years later for Marty. Yolande Moreau has been enhancing French cinema since the early nineties in things like Germinal, The Horseman On The Roof, The Milk Of Human Kindness, Amelie, Le Bonheur est dans le pre, Folle embellie, to say nothing of Quand le mer monte, which she wrote and co-directed. This is a lady of 56, verging on the clinically obese who can make you believe she is beautiful because she is, of course, beautiful with a shining talent. Seraphine recalls other outstanding understated French films like La Dentelliere and Brodeuses, films in which female acting transcends subject matter. If Marion Cotillard was born to play Piaf then Moreau was born to play Seraphine, the beautiful innocent, condemned to a life of harsh servitude yet never wavers from her simple faith and sings to the virgin on a daily basis.completely untrained she uses what little spare time she has to paint flowers and fruit with no thought of reward, a real definition of Art For Art's Sake. Because this is a true story about a real person her gift is, ultimately appreciated by the German art collector/critic who also 'discovered' Rousseau; for a mayfly moment she knows something akin to happiness/contentment before spending her last years in an asylum. The film scores on all levels, not least the visuals in which almost every set up whether indoors or out, reeks of paintings we can all but name but ultimately remain elusive. In the leading role Yolande Moreauis beyond praise. A totally stunning and moving performance worth a minimum of fifteen out of ten

Good (not great) French movie

[lrishJoe78 · 7/10 · 9 December 2012]

I love French film, and I was looking forward to this one. Yolande Moreau was excellent in the part of Seraphine de Senlis, and the production as a whole was impressive (locations, costume, acting, direction). It clearly showed the social context in which this artist existed, and was fascinating.

By the end though, I found myself losing interest in the story. The failing for me came in the lack of real drama or emotion between the characters. I enjoyed the movie and was glad to have watched it, but there was a necessary spark missing which could have turned this from good to great.

personal commentary

[pgorman3 · 10/10 · 9 June 2009]

I had no preconceptions about this film and saw it without knowing anything, I'm ashamed to say, about the film maker or the lead actress OR the painter even though I spent some time in Senlis years ago. From the first images I was intrigued because I wasn't sure where the story was going but this did not annoy me. That's what a good film should do! I am in the film business and have seen 'everything' so I feel qualified to say that. It is very difficult to 'fool' me, to really surprise me, and this film did that. It is an Oscar nomination waiting to happen. I must say that at the point Seraphine was digging up things I got the idea that she was a secret painter before we were 'supposed' to know but that did not bother me. I think the direction, writing and acting of this film were amazing. Accomplishing what a film can do without explosions and car chases and even mayhem, which I enjoy! In every way, technically and artistically, this film is a must see. A serious subject dealt with, what I believe to be, accurately without changing for dramatic purposes much of what is actually known. I admit I would have to research the facts but I feel I would be vindicated if I did so. Moving, inspiring, beautiful. What more could you want?

Too long - something lacking

[signlady · 6/10 · 14 February 2024]

I only 'liked' this movie - Of course, the art is stunning, & I realize the creators of the movie had to do a lot of guess-work to portray this woman bc there seems to be very little info about her. But therein lies the issue. They just elongated every scene unecessarily - for what?

The DVD I viewed had an interesting 'making of' featurette, but this mostly talked about the production elements - no special references to any historical info that informed the choices of this portrayal other than the actual paintings that exist.

The scenes of her joy in contact with nature were delightful, but this movie could have been shortened considerably by eliminating endless walking & housekeeping scenes. After so many unnecessary scenes it just slowed the story down too much.

I suppose the director wanted to immerse us in the mundane-ness of Seraphines life . . .

But after a while it just seemed super redundant. Egregious. As if the director just isn't convinced that I understand her hard life.

And that leads me to another thing that took me out of the movie even more - the actress for Seraphine was too large.

The two actual images that exist of this woman show a very short, petite, tho possibly muscular woman. The actress who portrayed seraphine did a fine job as an actress. But I'm just sayin' - considering the basic facts: the actual size of Seraphine according to existing photos, the hard worker she was, as much as she very likely did walk & climb stairs, & considering the period where she was portrayed as needy - the size of this actress just didn't jive.

The other issue I had is that somehow, I just couldn't seem to get invested in the artist, the art patron, or his sister, or his partner. Probably bc of the story being interrupted with endless repetitive scenes.

The only thing I did care about was her art, and I liked it before I saw the movie, and alas, the movie didn't do a thing to increase that.

And this would not normally be a 'keeper'-DVD for me, but bc I like her art I will keep it (& just fast fwd thru the ongoing redundant scenes straight to the scenes of art discussion, actual painting scenes, & scenes of her enjoying nature.

An interesting story in which you may loose interest

[mmunier · 17 October 2009]

Yes Seraphine of Senlis is an interesting film in which you may loose interest! The lead actress was very good and the filming beautiful (if having extended and multiple shots on Seraphine's large behind could be so!). This said I went to see this film and with a little reading had some ideas on what it was about that got me rather eager to go for it. Well it did not work exactly as I anticipated it would, and now I have seen it I share my feeling very much with the last short comment I just read here; I, too, got rather bored, The frequent cutting of the scenes did not work to well for me as I probably would have preferred something more fluid. The slow pace that reminded me a little of a Chinese movie I saw some time ago "Spring time In a small town" where you almost felt that you were watching grass growing! I also have to confess I have problem with the unpleasant side of humanity, so if your are in this category you may share my feelings. But one can not deny reality, although this does not mean that we have to enjoy it all the time and all its forms, but it's fair that it should be portrayed. I have known French rural life post second world war and latter had a similar status as Seraphine had although I was one of the rare person in my category to have been treated as a member of the family I was working for. However I remember others sleeping in some niche in the farm and having their meals in a back room by themselves and eating mostly left overs. I also have a mental-health worker's background here in Australia that started in the early 70's when much improvement came in this area. So, as I watched this movie, there was a fair amount of thoughts that went through my mind. I have to concede, that "entertainment" does not necessarily mean to have pleasant feelings, it can also be interesting or informative. This movie should not come under the "spoilers" rule as it's not a "who done it" and for my own appreciation, I wish I knew a lot more about it than I did. I'm very thankful for a couple of comments so well written I read here that in some ways makes me appreciate 'Seraphine' more than I managed to do at the viewing. I thought the German actor has something familiar about him I could not retrace, and thanks to IMDb I know now he was one of the main characters in what for me was one of the best movies I have ever seen "The Life of Others". I can imagine that having some affinity to painting would add some interest to the enjoyment. Having said all this I certainly don't regret my attendance.