The painterly images afford a brooding, sometimes luminous setting for Yolande Moreau, who conveys Séraphine's weird and saint-like turmoil without sentiment or stereotype.
Comment
07/30/09
Séraphine (2008)
89
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:82
Fresh:73
Rotten:9
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: Seraphine is a well-crafted French film that effectively captures one woman's experience with art, religion, and mental illness, and features a brilliant performance from Yolande Moreau.
Theatrical Release:Jun 5, 2009 Limited
Box Office: $557,682
Synopsis: Based on a true story, Seraphine centers on Séraphine de Senlis (Moreau), a simple and profoundly devout housekeeper whose brilliantly colorful canvases now adorn some of the most famous galleries... [More]
Starring: Yolande Moreau, Ulrich Tukur, Anne Bennent, Genevieve Mnich
Director: Martin Provost
Get This Movie
Rent DVD
Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.
Buy DVD
Reviews for Séraphine
Here's one that feels like homework.
07/25/09
The film's complex portrait of Seraphine -- who is alternately angry, bewildered, funny, belligerent and tender -- feels as fresh and alive as her work still does.
07/24/09
The characterization is deft, the acting is superb, and the production values are high. If there's a dryness to the way the story is told, that's because director Martin Provost has shifted his focus toward intellectual, not emotional, satisfaction.
07/23/09
Top CriticWe are ... made privy to the very reverie, that state of almost beatific hypnosis, where artists find sanctuary and are compelled to create.
07/19/09
...a mesmerizing portrait of an artist that gives exposure to beautiful work too little known, but it makes it audience work for its art.
07/18/09
Rather painterly and a bit distant. It never digs into the messiest of either the artist's or her patron's lives.
07/17/09
Seraphine is a fascinating story (and the film is beautiful to look at), but in the end, the movie leaves a lot of questions about the real-life Seraphine unanswered.
07/17/09
Yolande Moreau is a revelation in the title role; a part she plays without vanity and sneaking humour.
07/17/09
Top CriticDirector Martin Provost has brought the true story of Séraphine de Senlis to to the screen with elegant simplicity. A gorgeous film to watch, thanks to cinematographer Laurent Brunet, the pastoral settings are especially satisfying.
07/17/09
To look at the almost religious ecstasy on Moreau's face is to feel the artist's passion and be inspired by it.
07/17/09
Top CriticThe triumph and fascination of Yolande Moreau's performance as the French painter Séraphine de Senlis (1864-1942) is in the way she makes us believe -- completely and without questioning -- that Séraphine is some kind of divine vessel.
07/17/09
Top CriticThe character's fleeting success in the art world, her moody naivete and childlike reverence for both the natural and religious worlds, is conveyed with such tenderness and totality that it's almost heartbreaking to behold.
07/16/09
An uncommonly moving and wonderful experience: it is a cinematic depiction of a mindset, and a quiet and especially internal mindset at that.
07/11/09
It's even-tempered, evenly-paced and decidedly middlebrow.
07/10/09
It's also a comforting story that allows us to elevate the notion of purity above success.
07/10/09
Provost has made a picture that is almost biblical in its simplicity and its passion.
06/24/09
Top CriticSéraphine is a rare example of a film that does justice to the mysteriousness of artistic invention.
06/19/09
During the film I craved energy, but by the end I realized that I just wanted a story that stood a bit closer to its interesting, well-played title character and a bit further from the time-marking events of historical drama.
06/19/09
Seraphine arrives from France as the year's most honored film, winner of seven Cesars from the French Academy, including best film and best actress.
06/18/09
Top CriticLatest News for Séraphine
June 14, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
June 04, 2009:
Critics Consensus: The Hangover Is Certified Fresh
This week at the movies, we've got bachelor party mayhem (The Hangover, starring Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms), space-time continuum wackiness (Land of the Lost, starring Will... More...
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
History of Disney Animation
MSN Movies offers a little background on the success of Disney Animation.
90 Years of Screen Vampires
TIME takes a look back at the history of vampires on film.
Virtuoso Vistas of Lovely Bones
Techland examines the visual splendor of Peter Jackson's upcoming film.
Recent Headlines as TV Movies
AOL put together a list of 10 recent news items that would be perfect as TV Movies.
The Death of Original Thought
Hollywood.com's C. Robert Cargill explores how remakes and reboots have warped our thinking.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds