Séraphine (2008)

Based on the life of French painter Séraphine de Senlis.

Director:

Martin Provost

Writers:

Marc Abdelnour, Martin Provost

Stars:

Yolande Moreau, Ulrich Tukur, Anne Bennent

20 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yolande Moreau	...	Séraphine Louis, dite Séraphine de Senlis
Ulrich Tukur	...	Wilhelm Uhde
Anne Bennent	...	Anne-Marie Uhde
Geneviève Mnich	...	Mme Duphot
Adélaïde Leroux	...	Minouche
Nico Rogner	...	Helmut Kolle
Françoise Lebrun	...	La mère supérieure
Hélène Hardouin	...	La propriétaire
Serge Larivière	...	Duval
Léna Breban	...	Soeur Marguerite (as Léna Bréban)
Sandrine Bodenes	...	Marie-Louise (as Sandrine Bodènés)
Muriel Riou	...	Berthe
Dominique Pozzetto	...	Anatole Duphot
Josette Ménard	...	La bouchère
Xavier Pottier	...	Le boucher

Storyline

In 1914, Wilhelm Uhde, a famous German art collector, rents an apartment in the town of Senlis, forty kilometers away from Paris, in order to write and to take a rest from the hectic life he has been living in the capital. The cleaning lady is a rather rough-and-ready forty-year-old woman who is the laughing stock of others. One day, Wilhelm who has been invited by his landlady, notices a small painting lying about in her living room. He is stunned to learn that the artist is no other than Séraphine.

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Plot Keywords:

artist | agent artist relationship | connoisseur | female painter | maid | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

France Belgium

Language:

French German Latin

Release Date:

7 August 2010 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Seraphine

Filming Locations:

Cathédrale, Senlis, Oise, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$38,637, 7 June 2009

Gross USA:

$884,613

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,221,203

Company Credits

Production Co:

TS Productions, France 3 Cinéma, Climax Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min 121 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Since the film's release, the number of visitors at the museum of Senlis exhibiting Séraphine's works has quadrupled (August 2009).

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Goofs

Wilhelm Uhde is portrayed as having a goatee beard throughout the course of the film. Portraits of him show generally a clean-shaven man or one with the small moustache.

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Crazy Credits

The credits list the names of the paintings which are seen in the film - 10 paintings by Séraphine and the artworks owned by Uhde and Kolle.

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Soundtracks

Veni Creator Spiritus
(uncredited)
Hymn written by Raban Maure
(9th century)
Sung by Yolande Moreau

User Reviews

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

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.