Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Michel Bouquet | ... | Pierre-Auguste Renoir | |
Christa Théret | ... | Andrée Heuschling | |
Vincent Rottiers | ... | Jean Renoir | |
Thomas Doret | ... | Coco Renoir | |
Romane Bohringer | ... | Gabrielle | |
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Michèle Gleizer | ... | Aline Renoir |
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Laurent Poitrenaux | ... | Pierre Renoir |
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Anne-Lise Heimburger | ... | La boulangère (as Annelise Heimburger) |
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Sylviane Goudal | ... | La Grand'Louise |
Solène Rigot | ... | Madeleine | |
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Emmanuelle Lepoutre | ... | La Médecine |
Carlo Brandt | ... | Docteur Pratt | |
Thierry Hancisse | ... | Le brocanteur (as Thierry Hancisse de la Comédie Française) | |
Alice Barnole | ... | Fille cabaret | |
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Jean-Adrien Espiasse | ... | Aviateur cabaret 1 |
Set on the French Riviera in the summer of 1915, Jean Renoir -- son of the Impressionist painter, Pierre-Auguste -- returns home to convalesce after being wounded in World War I. At his side is Andrée, a young woman who rejuvenates, enchants, and inspires both father and son. Written by Samuel Goldwyn Films
Painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Michel Bouquet) is an ancient man by 1915. It is WWI, and his two eldest sons, Pierre and Jean (Vincent Rottiers), are at war, while his youngest, Claude (Kid with a Bike star Thomas Doret), just a boy, plays around the estate, claiming to be an orphan (his mother dead and his father an old man). Along comes a beautiful young woman (Christa Theret) who wishes to model for Renoir. Her beauty inspires the old man. Soon, Jean arrives home and begins an affair with the model (whose name is Andrée Heuschling, but who would later change her name to Catherine Hessling and star in many of Renoir's early films). This is, above all, just a very pretty movie. Very fitting, given its subject. Alexandre Desplat also provides a very gorgeous score. The story isn't hefty, but it's good. The acting is good throughout. France submitted this for the Academy Awards this year, bypassing the much more popular (and frankly better) Blue Is the Warmest Color, but Renoir is a worthy film, as well.