Camille Claudel (1988) - film review

A young woman, Camille Claudel, labours to become a sculptor and wins the admiration of the famous artist Auguste Rodin.  The latter adopts Claudel as his apprentice, but the two soon become lovers.  When Rodin refuses to marry Claudel, they separate and Camille becomes a bitter and self-destructive recluse.

Distinguished cinematographer Bruno Nuytten directed this epic biographical drama of the life of Camille Claudel, France’s most famous female sculptor and a disciple of the great Rodin. It is a languorous, intense work which many spectators will find slow-moving and stifling – in spite of some pretty respectable (but not great) performances from Isabelle Adjani and Gérard Depardieu. Nuytten’s strength is his ability to use the camera to create mood, and this he does masterfully, although he doesn’t quite manage to compensate for the lack of realism in Adjani’s somewhat theatrical portrayal of Claudel. Possibly a flawed masterpiece.

© James Travers 2001

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