Renoir
Directed by Gilles Bourdos
2012
Before “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” became a trope for socially awkward white dudes in cinema, there was once the artist’s muse. One such muse was Catherine Hessling (born Andrée Heuschling), subject of the later works of renowned French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, as well as actress and future wifey of his son, and filmmaker, Jean Renoir.
Less a conventional biopic and more like Art History 101 as told by Terrence Mallick, Gilles Bourdos directs a slow and atmospheric portrait of two different artists: one on the waning end of an already prolific career, and the other who has still yet to discover his life’s passion. The constant: both father and son find their muse in Andrée, a model and aspiring actress sent over to the Renoir household by fellow Impressionist Henri Matisse.
What is particularly good though is the camerawork and cinematography of Mark Lee Ping Bin, who has previously worked with Wong Kar-Wai and Christopher Doyle on In The Mood For Love, as well as the equally atmospheric film adaptation of the Haruki Murakami novel, Norwegian Wood. There are great shots throughout in deep focus and natural lighting, and of trees blowing on the French Riviera, which are very evocative of Renoir’s paintings themselves. And like Renoir, Mark Lee is so good at capturing this beauty in a way only few can.
