The Beautiful Troublemaker

A moody and intriguing film that captures the mundane aspects of the artistic process and the flashes of brilliance that come in a blink of the eye. In this case the painter is in search of truth always and wants to lay it bare on his canvass. A difficult pursuit when the model is a young strong willed woman who has doubts about the artist. Emmanuelle Beart is perfect in the role. A great film about what art can offer and what it can take away.

If you don't like movies that are described as a "slow burn" then this isn't going to be the film for you. Not to worry, there is plenty else out there. Personally though, I loved it. As an artist myself I found that this film is one of the few that really captures the frustration and intrique of being an artist. It's an externaly calm and lonely pursuit quite frankly even if you are tearing yourself apart on the inside. Not everyone watching this movie is going to get that which I totally understand. This movie is beautifully photographed and well acted. Nothing over the top. If you're an artist, a musician, or a photographer you'll probably get something out of this. If not, I'd still argue you should give it a try.

O.K. Lets get the obvious out of the way first. Emanuelle Beart is gorgeous and in her birthday suit for much of this movie. That being said, this is not a "sex" film and the nudity is not gratuitous. It is an accurate portrayal of the artistic process and the relationship between a figure painter and his model/muse. The artist twists his model into various pretzel like poses which look quite painful to hold for any length of time, reflecting the demanding nature of figure modeling. The acting is generally good. I particularly liked Jane Birkin's portrayal of the artist's long suffering wife and former muse. The setting in a picturesque villa or castle in the south of France is a feast for the eyes and makes me want to live there. So why did I give this otherwise fine film only four stars? Like several other reviewers, I found the actual paintings created by the artist to be disappointing, and it was difficult to see why he would be so famous. It was also a letdown not to see the finished work. Otherwise, a fine film.

I was blown away by this blu ray transfer. I owned this previously on DVD and there is no comparison. Early in the movie there were a few scenes where over a real light background the subtitles were difficult to read, but it was not an issue to me and it was not prevalent throughout the film. The clarity, color, detail and depth of this transfer were impressively prevalent throughout the film.

This is an amazing movie I remembered from years ago and finally found again. This particular publication of the movie however, puts part 1 on disc 2, and part 2 on disc1.

This is a truly fascinating exploration of erotic sublimation and artistic inspiration. For anyone interested in the artistic process, the process of a fine painter creating a masterpiece is beautifully depicted. It helps that his Muse is played by the French actress Emmanuelle Beart (star of the masterpiece "Manon of the Spring") one of the most beautiful leading ladies of modern cinema, who spends most of the film au natural. A serious film collector's piece. The dvd was delivered promptly, in perfect condition, as advertised by a collector with exquisite and rare taste in films. Given the rarity of the film, the price was a steal.

I saw this movie in the theater when it was new. And I have the DVD region 2 for my region free player. This restoration, the film has never looked better. Including when I first saw it in the 90s. Yes, this Blu-ray Works in America region a. And I saw a comment on it not being widescreen. All of the previews are in widescreen the film looks basically full screen. I believe that's because that is the original aspect ratio he was presented in.

First, the film is on two BDs. That's fine, it's four hours long! The first disc begins, annoyingly enough, with a two minute for some excreta that *cannot* be skipped. This ad, and the previews that follow (which can be jumped past) are both substantially louder than the main feature. That's not a good start to an experience. Two minutes of forced junk? The "Cohen" logo at least three times before I remember what film I put in to watch? OK, fine, I'm more than a couple of hours in and disc one ends. I put in disc two. IT HAS THE SAME GARBAGE AT THE BEGINNING. You absolutely cannot simply put in disc two and "keep watching" - there is a FORCED two-minute ad for some garbage I'll will intentionally never buy now, and more previews! On the "up" side, the movie can be "paused" for many hours with at least some level of success, unlike many badly authored BDs. I wrote this review WHILE WAITING FOR DISC TWO TO FINISH PLAYING TRASH so I could go back to the film.