Camille Claudel 1915.

Originally from Villeneuve in Picardy, Camille Claudel, born 1864, was a French sculptor and graphic artist and the sister of poet and diplomat Paul Claudel. She was at first a student and then became the mistress of fellow sculptor Auguste Rodin for 15 years until she left him in 1895. In 1913 following her father’s death and after living a solitary life shut away in her studio, her metal state was allegedly deteriorating and her family decided to commit her to a metal institution, one at first near Paris before moving to Southern France.

 

Camille Claudel....

....as played by Juliette Binoche.

Written and directed by Bruno Dumont, who you may know from his 2011 movie Hors Satan, a film I can highly recommend if you have not seen it already, Camille Claudel 1915 (2013) is loosely based on the work and letters of Paul Claudel and the medical records of Camille. Our story starts in 1915, hence the title. We find Camille in Montdevergues Asylum near Avignon. Two nuns are forcing her to bath; she is then escorted back to her room. After she gets dressed she makes her way to the kitchen where she is allowed to prepare her own food. We discover the reason for this unusual privilege is she lives in fear of being poisoned, its not quite clear if her paranoia extends to her ex-lover or her family – or both? Being surrounded by mental patients, who appear to be in a far worse state than she is, does not help her, neither does the Psychiatrist in charge of the asylum who refuses to see the evidence in front of him and is totally influenced by Camille’s family who its obvious want her locked away. 

 

The unfortunate residents of Montdevergues did not help Camille's mental condition!

Although the Doctor recommended to her brother that she was ready to leave the asylum a number of times, she was to spend the last 29 years of her life in residence at Montdevergues. Her brother who died in 1955 was to continue to visit her but did not attend his sister’s funeral. She died on October 19^th 1943 aged 79 and was buried in a group vault meaning that her remains can never be reclaimed.

 

Camille's unfeeling brother.

The camera rarely leaves the face of the mesmerising Juliette Binoche who bravely portrays Camille Claudel completely with out makeup, gaunt and thin and dressed throughout the movie in the drab asylum clothing. Because of her superb representation of this character you will be able to empathise with her loneliness, abandoned by both friends and family.  A moving depiction of a talented woman who gets involuntarily locked up in a mental institution. Not to be missed.

Hors Satan (Outside Satan).

Frenchman Bruno Dumont has previously written and directed 5 feature films all I am told border somewhere between realistic drama and the avant-garde and most have picked up prizes at various film festivals. Hors Satan (2011), his 6th film, is set in a bleak, thinly populated, hauntingly beautiful corner of Pas de Calais Boulogne a place so beautiful it almost hides the violence we witness as the films narrative unfolds. It tackles good and evil suggesting that Christ and Satan are possible different sides of the same coin?

We have two main protagonists one called  ‘The Guy’ and the other called ‘The Girl’ who are played by non professional actors David Dewade and Alexandra Lematre who it must be admitted are totally impossible to read.  The Guy is a man who appears to have strange powers that may emanate from either heaven or hell, but its never made clear. In fact there are a lot of things that are not made clear! He lives rough with no visible means of support and gets his nourishment from strangers, he has a boyish looking girl friend, The Girl, who he refuses to have sex with and won’t even kiss her. There life together consists of long walks in the countryside and very little else. But when The Girl intimates that her stepfather is abusing her, The Guy shots and kills him. When he finds out that a local land preservation guard is propositioning her he beats him near to death. Other strange happenings involve a hitchhiker and the treatment of a sick young girl.

 

The Girl and The Guy.

With its completely natural sound track and its minimal dialog this surreal film is pure cinema, but one you may find difficult to warm to, it’s intriguing more so than its enjoyable.  Dewade’s character brings to mind Terence Stamps character in Pasoline’s Theorem (1968) and Enrique Irazoqul haunting portrayal of Christ in his The Gospel According to St Matthew (1964). But for some reason that I can’t fathom, probable something to do with the fact I can’t get this movie out of my head, I would recommend you seek out this somewhat different viewing experience.