Simply Perfect

Sadly Over-hyped

People are voting emotionally.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Cinema is the art of the photographic image as it slips away, failing to establish itself, and is given over to the death of the present and the rebirth of the moment. The motion picture that is conscious of the beauty of its own image, and the desire to maintain it, as a photograph or a sculpture might, will naturally dwell upon its subjects, yet with a gorgeous futility. The change from frame to frame is unavoidable, indeed part of the texture of the cinema, whether it arises from the wind, or the breath of the human subject, or the movement of the hand that washes the foot, or some faint tremor of the camera. This is an aesthetic of insatiate desire, and Fernando Trueba's THE ARTIST AND THE MODEL is its veritable model.I want to own his film, to be able to freeze its black-and-white images on my DVR and gaze on them at will... READ MORE: http://osburnt.com/the-artist-and-the-model/

First off, there is a lot of nudity. Though mostly it is not sexualized nudity (if you dismiss a bit of voyeurism that will be going on at some point). But it's necessary, because in this case if is there to prove a point. Actually to show us the view/take on things by the main male character, who is a sculptor (mainly).There is different takes on life and what it can portray or what it is. There is also a spin on the Adam and Eve story here (which might be too on the nose and a comparison the movie itself does not shy away from). The actors are really good and the movie has a nice pace, even if at first you're not sure where it's all heading. And it's in black and white, like the poster suggest and surely the trailer is showing too ;o)

... director Joseph Guzman's controversial 2010 consideration of similar themes to those dealt with by Fernando Trueba in THE ARTIST AND THE MODEL, the latter movie tries its best, mixing together nude models, Nazis, and at least one gun key to its plot. A tad more contemplative than the former flick, MODEL centers on multiple love triangles. There's Mr. Artist's one-time nude model, who's aged into a different perspective, and her relationship with her husband's latest unclothed muse. On top of that, there's the pyramid formed by the artist, his most recent Au Naturel poser chick, and the mysterious wounded guy who turns up in the woods. Finally, there's this said sculptor, his Nazi biographer, and the kraut's adjutant--just try to figure out how this trio fits together. With a passel of voyeuristic school kids thrown in for good measure, perhaps Trueba has bitten off more than he chews. I, for one, find his gun violence LESS pleasing than that contained in the NUDE NUNS flick.

I went to see this movie based on the premise that its chief theme concerned an older man, the artist Marc Clos (Jean Rochefort), who instills his wisdom of life to a young woman--his model Merce (Aida Folch), a young Catalan woman--before his life is over. The year is 1943 (inferred because the battle of Stalingrad is mentioned several times) and France is occupied by the Germans. To capture this epoch, the movie's filmed in black and white. I understand this but I would have preferred color to capture the beauty of the physical landscape and the beauty of the Merce's bodyscape. But that's a minor quibble.Merce has escaped from a Spanish prison camp where she was interned for five years after the end of the Spanish Civil War (1935-1938). She is hungry and in desperate need of shelter and drifts into the French border village where Marc and Lea Clos (Lea played effectively by Claudia Cardinale) live. Marc is a sculptor and Lea knows what kind of woman he likes to draw and sculpt. And Merce fits the bill. So she is given food and a place to sleep in Marc's studio over the stable. And she is paid to model for Marc.Much of the movie involves Marc trying to find the right pose for Merce and he makes numerous drawings, many of which he discards, before finally setting out on the sculpture of her nude body.The movie really doesn't have much conflict or driving force. Marc is a very taciturn artist who doesn't say much but gets annoyed at Merce because often she doesn't know what exactly he wants. She's new to being a model and he doesn't exactly articulate very well what he wants. I saw very little of Marc offering up his wisdom on life, due I suppose to his quiet non-talkative nature. He does effectively convey the frailty of his body as he feels Merce's supple youthful body with his hands. These actions rather than words inform us of his approaching end and reveal his sadness that life is slipping away. Marc is grouchy and taciturn, but basically he is a good man. But all this doesn't lend itself to much drive in the movie. Finally Marc finishes his sculpture of Merce and she leaves via bicycle. Lea warns her to be careful because an occupying army in defeat is worse than a victorious one. But Merce encounters no Germans and Marc sits on his porch chair holding his old rifle on his lap. We see a cluster of birds in a tree. Then a shot rings out and they scatter. Did Marc commit suicide or did he fire to scare off the birds? Because he scattered a group of prying children with his gun, he might just as well have scattered the birds. Or maybe he decided that he'd beat death at its own game. We don't know. The movie could have been more engaging although one could argue it makes its points more subtly. I rate it seven out of ten.