Best known for fluffy Oscar-winner Belle Epoque (and more recently, Chico and Rita’s vibrant jazz animation), The Artist and the Model presents a more sombre side to director
Fernando Trueba. The diptych of the title are an elderly French sculptor left creatively
bereft by the cumulative horrors of two world wars; and the young Spanish
refugee who’s natural beauty re-inspires his artistic instincts. As the former,
Jean Rochefort fully convinces as a man with sadness in his bones but a
resilient passion for art’s transcendent qualities; as the latter, Aida Folch is
exceptional, imbuing a somewhat underwritten character with layered nuances.
Unafraid to grapple with big themes, the script gamely
grasps for a profundity that ultimately proves slightly beyond its reach. But
while these ruminations on life, death, art and suchlike don’t necessarily say
anything original, they’re nonetheless uttered eloquently; factor in sumptuous monochrome
cinematography and an all-too-brief role for Claudia Cardinale as Rochefort’s
wife, and you’ve got yourself a stately triumph.
Out now
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