Seraphine Louis aka Seraphine de Senlis (Yolande Moreau) is leading a simple existence, doing odd jobs to supplement her income as a housekeeper for a rich landlady. She is not considered to be a bright lady, and says that her ‘guardian angel’ told her to begin a new hobby, so she collects blood from a butcher when he isn’t looking, steals candle wax from the church, and mixes them with local flora to make colors for her new passion, painting.
In 1912 Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur), a German art collector comes to town and rents out a house that Seraphine often cleans. At a party the landlady holds for the local art community, stumbles upon one of Seraphine’s paintings that was discarded by her employer. Taken aback at finding out that his housekeeper is the artist, he takes her under his wing and encourages Seraphine to pour herself into her painting. When WWI has the Germans invading France, Uhde is sent on the run, leaving Seraphine to fend for herself, with a renewed purpose to subsist and paint.
Several years after WWI, Wilhelm finds himself back in Senlis to retrieve art taken from him during the war and is stunned to find that Seraphine has not only still alive, but that she has dramatically improved her art. Becoming her patron, she finds herself flush with cash for the first time in her life, and loses her hold on reality even as she paints the best pieces of her life.
A final break from reality lands her in an insane asylum, where she paints nothing for the final years of her life. She is still cared for by Uhde even though his finances have dwindled due to the Great Depression’s effects on the European economy.
I normally stay away from biopics at the theater, they tend to be dry and overbearing in their gushing over how brilliant that person is. But several folks told me that I just had to see this film, and bad planning on my part landed me at a screening. I must say, I can see why this movie won 15 awards including a Best Actress for Yolande Moreau. The interaction between Yolande and Ulrich makes this film work. Wonderfully capturing the period of early 20th Century France and the descent into madness that Seraphine takes; this is a film that I’m glad I caught.
Tags: French Artists, French cinema, SIFF
