Camille Claudel, the one that started it all! WARNING: This movie should be watched only if one is very depressed. Happy people should not watch this movie.
Synopsis from Netflix:
The talent and ambition of French sculptor Camille Claudel (Isabelle Adjani) catch the attention of legendary sculptor Auguste Rodin (Gérard Depardieu) in this passionate biographical drama. Claudel abandons her work to assist the womanizing Rodin, becoming his muse and his lover. When the affair ends disastrously, Claudel spins into an emotional turmoil that eventually sends her spiraling toward madness.
My first sighting of Isabelle Adjani was in Camille Claudel. Just saying her name brings a smile to my face. I had never seen an actress before who had real dark hair and vivid blue eyes. The combination is traffic stopping. I never knew what milk white skin meant until I laid eyes on Ms. Adjani. Her beauty surpasses all other women I had seen to date. Granted, I was only 18; still this was beauty that I have never seen before and have been hard pressed to spot again.
The beginning of this movie we see a very young and radiant sculptress, Camille. She is talented and loved by her father. Loved so much, that he pays no attention to his younger son and daughter. Camille is a willful woman who wants to create beauty with her hands. And create she does. Then she meets Rodin (SOB, B@$T@RD, &^^%$#@! - you get the picture).
Rodin is portrayed as an aging Sculptor who takes on students who have a gift. Prior to this movie, I liked Rodin's work. Let's just say after this movie, I wanted to destroy all of his "supposed" work. The movie takes us on a terrible downhill slide as Camille's innocence is perverted and destroyed by her mentor, Rodin.
In the beginning, Camille is dressed in simple and comely outfits. Her hair shines lustrously ebony. Her face is without cosmetic. As the movie progresses, she looks a bit worse for the wear, still it looks good on her. She has been creating master pieces that even I, no art critic can recognize. As her disastrous affair with Rodin continues, we start to see how Rodin abuses his role of authority. As a teacher, instead of nurturing his student, he debases her and uses her work as his. He fucks her mindlessly. He tells her wonderful thing as he is stabbing daggers in into her back, slowly and painfully. His sweet words cover his vicious actions.
Camille's loving and devoted father is helpless to stop the corruption of his daughter. Her mother only alienates Camille more pointing out her foolishness. Camille's family struggle to bring her back from the brink. With the death of her father, Rodin's influence worsens. Camille's desire for a man's acceptance and approval is her ultimate undoing.
In the end, Camille is no longer the doe eyed ingenue. Instead, she is wearing ill fitting ripped clothes and covers her face in clownish white powder. Her mind is quite broken as is her spirit. Rodin successfully soils her and voraciously strips her of her dignity, creativity and confidence. Even Camille's younger brother has difficulty recognizing her. Camille's vacant stare and embarrassing behaviour leaves her younger brother no choice, but to commit her to an insane asylum ~ a prison which only tortures her to death.
The lesson I learned from this movie is to never be close with a male who has power or authority above me. The male will fear a female's natural ability and do their best to undermine it and desecrate her mind, body and soul. This movie put another nail in the coffin for me to be a man hating feminist. It took me over a decade to get over the fear.
