Diagonaldi Very well executed

Manthast Absolutely amazing

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

juoliver-70482 To experience this movie at full it is suggested to recall that Auguste Renoir was one of greatest artist ever and one of the creators of the XX century visual perception. Also it will be an advantage to know that his second son, Jean, was one of the greatest filmmakers that ever existed. Renoir is set in a time lag of few months in the wonderful environs of a farmhouse at the French Rivera. This film is the entrapping of this period in this particular place. The farmhouse is owned by Auguste Renoir and it is his place in the world. Life in the house hold is routinely established and predicted. A group of loyal women dedicate to the accommodation, feeding, cleaning, transport and assistance of Auguste who is suffering of an unkind rheumatic arthritis which has him severely handicapped, in spite of his condition he is determined to keep painting incessantly. A young woman, Andree, interrupts this inert equilibrium. She comes as a model for the painter. She is hired and stayed in the ample house but she is not able to accept the routine and way of life of the household, she is an independent soul. Auguste son, Jean, returned from the war as a wounded soldier, he is depleted of dreams or plans for the future. Andree, with her lust for life, becomes significant for both father and son. This is the story background of Renoir but what really tells us the story of the film is the place, the farmhouse in Le Collette. Its different rooms, its kitchen, the surrounding grassy terrain, the trees, the cloth lines, the nearby areas: the sea, the thick forest of high trees, the stream, the waterfall the gate to the property , the road to the gate. A sensitive, inquisitive and intelligent camera has followed and captured the lives of the people populating and interacting with this place, integrating the presence of the wind and the rotations of the light and the umbrellas which the women play with. The images were built with visually intense scenes. Angles, lighting and editing were used in a painterly mode of short brush strokes and with the calibration of short takes where conversations were cut to continue an emotional atmosphere. The apparently isolated and homogeneous landscape of the south of France was pierced with some visuals of angst expressing the terrible war occurring not far from there. Only once the camera left the landscape of Le Collette to follow Andree who was in a Cabaret. This short scene is shot with the same intensity and quality than the rest of the movie but with a certain judgment to the contrasting context. The cinematography and editing were essential and unmatched, the set decoration, production design and costume design transpired truth to the period and the music complemented the beauty of the scenes. The acting was wonderful in what I think was a very strict, disciplinary work because of the historic reality of the characters. Christa Theret as Andree was inspiring and convincing as an independent, feisty, needed to be kept, young woman. The master story teller was the director, Guilles Bourdos; I suppose he had a great determination in shooting this movie in the way it was completed. It is for the most part a visual story and sometimes moviegoers yearn for a more verbally explanatory story. He handled the elements of the film with great ability and talent to favor the audience with a great experience.

feodoric This film is deliberately full of short scenes without apparent rational purposes. If there was one or maybe two such scenes, one might see those as plot holes or dead ends, i.e. as flaws.Personally, I see this film as an impressionistic film about a famous impressionist painter. The very thin storyline along with the numerous vignettes of the daily life of a painter, his model, his sons and his family/maids (eating, painting, cooking, talking about this and that, sleeping alone or together, bathing, or simply being idle), all filmed with the extraordinary beauty of the Côte d'Azur and its unique light which drew so many painters to the region: everything concurs to making of this film a painting on film. A painting that uses the impressionist technique: myriads of small brush strokes of colours which seem out of place, unexpected or even plain wrong, whose purpose we understand only when we look at the overall canvas once finished. Renoir is such a painting.This is a masterpiece. I found it as mesmerizing as the most beautiful impressionist paintings, whether they are by Renoir or Monet, Degas or Cézanne. I was literally transfigured by the sheer beauty of the images, and could not care less for the meaning of every little strokes of this large fresco of the beauty of nature in that region blessed by a magic sunlight... There is no pace when contemplating a painting. Everything else stops while one immerses oneself into it.And if there is one overall purpose for this movie, it is contained in the short epilogue shown at the end of the film. Jean Renoir became the famous film director of international renown, and this movie conveys the circumstances -mostly his relationship with Andrée - that led him to take this career at a time when he saw himself as mere canon fodder with nothing else after the war had ended. There are several ways to tell a story, and this is a new one. The originality of Renoir (2012), what makes this movie so unique is that it transposes a painting technique to cinema.Do not expect much action. As Pierre-Auguste Renoir says in the movie (paraphrasing) as an almost zen principle: "Do not interfere with the course of nature: picture yourself as a cork carried over by a stream, and let yourself slip away slowly as time flows by...". This is exactly how one should watch that extraordinary movie. A healthy film for the soul.

Turfseer 'Renoir' is the new French biopic about the last years of the great painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. If you think about it, creating a film biography of any painter is difficult because the act of creating a painting, does not lend itself to great drama. The painter's life has to be dramatic. What makes 'Renoir' doubly difficult is that director Gilles Bourdos has chosen to view Renoir at the point in his declining days. 'Renoir' is sort of like an extremely impressive family video postcard. This is what it has going for it: Fantastic visuals (Bourdos employed the infamous art forger, Guy Ribes, to reproduce the Renoir paintings throughout the film), a haunting musical score and the marvelous Michel Bouquet, in a compelling character study of the brilliant but often petulant artistic genius, Renoir. My favorite line of Renoir's is when he speaks of the flesh as "everything". Despite suffering from crippling rheumatoid arthritis, Renoir managed to keep producing great paintings, up until the end.What 'Renoir' unfortunately does not have much of, is drama. The story focuses on the appearance of Andree Hesuchling, an aspiring actress who ends up as Renoir's last model for his masterpieces. After Jean Renoir returns from World War I, convalescing from a leg wound, there is some tension between father and son, after Jean takes an interest in Andree (it was Renior himself who had the reputation of bedding his models while he was married and before his illness made him dependent on others).There is also a focus on Jean's internal arc, as he struggles to find his own inner voice. We become privy to Jean's future greatness, when he shows a short silent film, to his admiring family (including his father). The second act crisis fails to excite, when Andree suddenly disappears from the household, causing Renoir to become quite upset. Jean finds her at a bordello of sorts but convinces her to return to the Renoir estate. We later learn in the credits that she starred in Jean's early films, up until 1931, when they separated. Tragically, Andree fell into poverty and obscurity. Jean, on the other hand, remains a legend in cinematic history.'Renoir' has excellent performances from all the supporting players including Thomas Doret as Coco, Renoir's youngest son, who aches to fly free from teenage bondage.I couldn't get very excited about 'Renoir' despite the fact that visually it certainly is a beautiful film. Would I advise you to go and see it? Yes. But don't expect any great revelations. You can usually learn quite a bit from wise old men as they talk about the past—but an examination of their present circumstances, doesn't always lead to compelling narrative.

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. Admittedly, I expect more from independent films since there is usually no committee of producers sucking the life out of the filmmaker's vision. While writer/director Gilles Bourdos teams with Cinematographer Ping Bin Lee to deliver a film that carries the visual beauty of its subject's paintings, it somehow offers little else.Veteran French actor Michel Bouquet captures the essence of a 74 year old Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a master Impressionistic artist. By this time (1915), Renoir is in constant pain and continues painting despite his gnarled hands courtesy of severe arthritis. He has relocated to Cote D'Azur (the French Riviera) to leave in peace with nature and the warmer weather. His estate is gorgeous and provides the backdrops for many paintings. We meet his newest model, 15 year old Andree Heuschling (Christa Theret). Her spirit inspires not just Renoir the artist, but also his son Jean (Vincent Ruttiers), sent home to recover from his WWI injuries.Both father and son seem to objectify the beautiful and spirited Andree, neither being capable of an adult and equal personal relationship. The frustration with this movie stems from its unwillingness to offer anything other than observations of its characters. It meanders through days with no real purpose or insight. This despite having subjects that include one of the greatest artists of all-time and his son, who went on to become a world famous movie director. The story, if there is one, just kind of lays there flat, surrounded by beautiful colors and textures.Auguste Renoir died in 1919, but earlier that year managed to visit the Louvre and view his own paintings hanging in the majestic halls. Jean Renoir married Andree and cast her in his first silent films (as Catherine Hessling). When the films flopped, they divorced. She went on to a life of obscure poverty, and he directed two of the greatest films in history: Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game.Alexandre Desplat provides another fine score, leaving us lacking only a story or point to the film. To learn much about Pierre-Auguste Renoir, it is recommended to read the biography his son Jean wrote.