The troubled life of French sculptor Camille Claudel and her long relationship with legendary sculptor Auguste Rodin are portrayed in this passionate biographical drama, featuring an acclaimed performance by Isabelle Adjani. Beginning in the 1880s with a young Claudel's first meeting with Rodin, the film traces the development of their intense romantic bond. The growth of this relationship coincides with the rise of Claudel's career, helping her overcome prejudices against female artists. However, their romance soon sours, due to the increasing pressures of Rodin's fame and his love for another woman. These difficulties combine with her increasing doubts about the value of her work to drive Claudel into an emotional tumult that threatens to become insanity. First-time director Bruno Nuytten had previously served as a cinematographer, and he brings this experience to bear in his loving presentation of Claudel's sculpture and the lavish period setting. The dramatic approach is in tune with the impressive visuals, which present Claudel's life as a grandiose melodrama, a transformation that irritated some critics. However, few questioned the film's value as a dramatic showcase for Adjani, whose fervent portrayal was rewarded with an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The American release version was cut to 159 minutes. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Review
Bruno Nuytten's passionate film on the early years of sculptor Camille Claudel (Isabelle Adjani) and her stormy love affair with August Rodin (Gerard Depardieu) is a sensuous and powerful testament to the artist's need to create and the forces arrayed against her. In the 1880s, the 20-year-old artist begins a relationship with the famed sculptor, who is, at least in part, able to smooth the way for her work in the chauvinistic world of art. But at length, his ego is threatened by her creativity, and he returns to the mistress that he had never abandoned. Less about Claudel's relationship with Rodin than that with her art, the film is emphatic about her obsession with sculpture, following the artist as she paws like an animal through the mud of Paris in search of the exact type of clay she needs. She throws herself furiously into kneading and shaping the recalcitrant material, as though making love to the figures she envisions. Adjani's award-winning performance is a revelation as she abandons herself body and soul to the portrayal of this obsessive, ultimately mad woman, seemingly as enraptured in her portrayal of Claudel as Claudel was with her own consuming passion. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
