Words and Pictures (2013)

An art instructor and an English teacher form a rivalry that ends up with a competition at their school in which students decide whether words or pictures are more important.

Director:

Fred Schepisi

Writer:

Gerald Di Pego (as Gerald DiPego)

Stars:

Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche, Bruce Davison

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clive Owen	...	Jack Marcus
Juliette Binoche	...	Dina Delsanto
Bruce Davison	...	Walt
Navid Negahban	...	Rashid
Amy Brenneman	...	Elspeth
Valerie Tian	...	Emily
Adam DiMarco	...	Swint
Josh Ssettuba	...	Cole Patterson
Janet Kidder	...	Sabine
Christian Scheider	...	Tony
Keegan Connor Tracy	...	Ellen
Andrew McIlroy	...	Roy Loden
Harrison MacDonald	...	Shaftner
Willem Jacobson	...	Stanhope
Tanaya Beatty	...	Tammy

Storyline

A flamboyant English teacher (Clive Owen) and a new, stoic art teacher (Juliette Binoche) collide at an upscale prep school. A high-spirited courtship begins and she finds herself enjoying the battle. Another battle they begin has the students trying to prove which is more powerful, the word or the picture. But the true war is against their own demons, as two troubled souls struggle for connection.

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Plot Keywords:

rheumatoid arthritis | teacher | school | battle | words | 

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Taglines:

Is a man worth more than his words, a woman worth more than her pictures?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual material including nude sketches, language and some mature thematic material

Details

Official Sites:

Juliette Binoche: The Art of Being - Official Fansite Official site

Country:

USA Canada Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 July 2014 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Apropó szerelem

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$78,200, 30 May 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,166,206, 15 August 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

Latitude Productions, Lascaux Films, American Entertainment Investors

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene in which Jack Marcus destroys his living room, the music in the background is David Bowie's "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" from his album The Next Day. Clive Owen insisted on using this on the soundtrack rather than the classical music that director Fred Schepisi preferred.

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Quotes

Elspeth: Just be who you were!
Jack Marcus: Nobody can.

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Soundtracks

Doubly
Written & Performed by Paul Grabowsky

User Reviews

Poet meets painter, poet loses painter . . .

Words and Pictures (2013) was directed by Fred Schepisi. It stars Juliette Binoche as Dina Delsanto, a brilliant painter who is suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Clive Owen portrays Jack Marcus, a published poet who is suffering from alcoholism. Of course they meet, engage in intellectual battles, are attracted to each, and have a horrendous rending of their relationship.

All of this action takes place at a private school in New England, with subplots involving cyber bullying, the real possibility of Jack being fired from his job, Jack's relationship with his son, and both teachers' interactions with their students.

The film is predictable and formulaic, but it still worked for me because of the brilliant acting of Juliette Binoche. We've seen painters at work in other films, but in this movie, there's a real artist at work. (Binoche is, herself, an artist, and the art she's making in the film is her own art.) Most important to me is that we get to see the serious effects of rheumatoid arthritis on someone's life. Most sick people are portrayed in movies as either at death's door, or just mildly impaired. (If they have rheumatoid arthritis, they use a cane and limp a little.) Not so in this film--Binoche has a serious handicapping condition, and it's interfering with her life and her art.

This movie will work better on the large screen, mainly because the art will be more impressive if seen in a theater. Even so, it will work well enough on the small screen. It's worth seeing, Not a great film, but an intelligent and enjoyable one.