The Artist and the Model (2013)
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 38
Fresh: 26 | Rotten: 12
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.1/10
Critic Reviews: 15
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 359
Movie Info
Summer of 1943. In an occupied France, not far away from the Spanish border, a famous old sculptor who is tired of life and wars finds the desire to work on his last masterpiece when a beautiful young Spanish girl comes knocking after escaping a refugee camp in the South of France.
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All Critics (38) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (26) | Rotten (12)
That old arthouse chestnut, about the restorative power of naked young women, gets another outing in this pretty but superficial musing on the creative process.
Top CriticThe film's insights about beauty are ... superficial. They amount to such commonplace observations as the fact that no two leaves are alike.
"The Artist and the Model" is a contemplative ode to creativity and imagination.
It is about inspiration and beauty, of course - and Folch, as a vagabond who escaped from a Spanish refugee camp, is certainly inspiring and beautiful.
Partly about the importance of fresh observation, the film has little new to say about life, inspiration or art.
An exquisitely crafted miniature about the creative rebirth of an aging sculptor, Fernando Trueba's The Artist and the Model brings the same craft and care to its subject as its titular artist does to his own work.
For anyone who has actually created something -- or been frustrated by their inability to do so -- Fernando Trueba's film stands to offer a dose of quiet resonance.
While these ruminations on life, death, art and suchlike don't necessarily say anything original, they're nonetheless uttered eloquently ...
What The Artist and the Model does boast are generous performances and the odd flash of inspiration.
A whimsical black-and-white meditation upon the nature of art, set in rural southern France during the second world war.
Folch, without a stitch on most of the time, holds her own against these screen titans, and the luminous black-and-white cinematography helps conjure a fable-like air.
The film takes time to get going. There is reward eventually, though: in Rochefort's plain but noble-nosed suffering, in some acute dialogue about the pains and paradoxes of art creation.
Beautifully shot in black and white The Artist And The Model offers a mature, touching reflection on the eternal bonds between art and life.
In the absence of much dramatic heft, its complacent beauty soon wears off; set it against Rivette's La Belle Noiseuse, a far more rigorous interrogation of this dynamic, and it's but a lightly shimmering afterthought.
Oscar winning Spaniard Fernando Trueba ponders the relationship between artist and muse, and in glistening black and white.
This is a slim story but a tranquil, beautiful piece of work.
Following Renoir and Summer in February, The Artist and the Model explores the relationship between an artist and their nude model, though this is by far the most accomplished and touching of the lot.
The story has meaty concerns - the artist's quest for inspiration, the place of art in a world at war - but its leisurely pace too often feels like padding.
Shot in magisterial black-and-white, veteran director Trueba's drama is a welcome return from the Belle Epoque man.
More sedate than scintillating, it is nevertheless handsomely shot by newcomer Daniel Vilar - a name to look out for - and beautifully acted.
Colorless, both literally and figuratively
With understated performances and unabashed arty nudity, it's drama au natural.
Audience Reviews for The Artist and the Model
Super Reviewer
Is there any European cinema cliche more well worn than that of the uninspired artist who finds himself reinvigorated by a hot, and usually very naked, young model? Shot in black and white, 'The Artist & the Model' could almost be the undeveloped negative of another release from this summer, Gilles Bourdos' 'Renoir'. Both movies are set in southern France during wartime (WWI in 'Renoir', WWII here) and both feature a grumpy old artist and an unsophisticated young model who teach each other a thing or two about life and art.
Writer-Director Trueba brings nothing new to the table here. A subplot involving Merce's involvement with the French resistance promises a respite from the art studio cliches but this storyline ultimately goes nowhere. There are two scenes where Folch and Rochefort get to genuinely interact with one another and briefly capture our interest but most of the film is the usual assortment of wayward glances and quivering lips.
There's an element of misogyny on display here, and I'm not referring to Folch's constant nudity, (I'm pretty sure she's nude more often than clothed here, but I'm not going to lie and say this wasn't pleasant), rather the treatment of Cardinale. Not only is the legendary Italian actress wasted here, but the movie implies that her character was only of worth to her husband when she possessed a young, lithe body. The ending fully enforces this.
Former camera operator Daniel Vilar makes his debut as cinematographer here and has a real Spaniard's eye for a great image. His monochrome photography adds a touch of magic-realism and is reminiscent of the work of his compatriot, Kiko de la Rica, on the excellent 'Blancanieves'. As was the case with 'Renoir', the cinematography is by far the best aspect of an otherwise tiresome film.
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Foreign Titles
- The Artist and the Model (El artista y la modelo) (DE)
- The Artist and the Model (UK)
As far as diversions go, "The Artist and the Model" is a perfectly respectable and pleasant one, filmed in black and white with a few old school dissolves to boot. While it may seem strange for such a story to be set during World War II, just remember that wars are not always fought without a break. And I like Marc's original take on the biblical creation of men and women, as this is not the first time a Garden of Eden analogy could be applied to nude posing.(As somebody else once pointed out, "Sirens" would be the other movie.) At first, the camera respects Merce's initial reticence at posing before she becomes much more comfortable, eschewing a fig leaf, and even sleeping in the buff.