The Impressionists

Looking back on his life in 1920, Claude Monet recalls the story of the Impressionists – a movement that shook the foundation of the art world. With his fellow painters, Auguste Renoir and Frederic Bazille, they begin a forty year struggle against the Salon, the annual state art exhibition. From meeting his hero Edouard Manet to the death of his wife and his lifelong struggles for success, Monet along with his friends and rivals ultimately find the success that they only dreamed was possible.

The Impessionists

The Impressionists

Absolutely wonderful movie. Two discs. I love biographies, art, great acting - and it was all in this movie. The actors actually look like the people they portray and the combination of that and their stories, being told by Monet in later life, make this movie come alive. I bought this movie to share with others and to enjoy over and over again. April 6, 2008

The Impressionists

I just watched this movie last night on PBS and I found it so wonderful and it really made me truly appreciate what these artist went through.
I will now have a new appreciation for these artists and their works.
Bravo March 28, 2008

Last living Impressionist tells all . . .

As BBC historical dramas go, this one is informative, well performed and beautifully photographed. Art historians, however, may question how well it represents the artists, their work, and their relationships. It falls rather neatly into the shape of a miniseries, and one is left to wonder what's been left out and what's been enhanced to conform to the requirements of the genre. For me, the absence of Pissarro was unexpected, and I would like to have learned more about Renoir, who seemed more of a playful side-kick to the rest of the group of painters who challenged the officially approved style of art that ruled the salons of Paris in the 1880s.

Shaping this material (we are told it is a "true story" based on interviews and documents) must have been a particular challenge for the writers Colin Swash and Sarah Woods. And it's finally hard to say what the central thread of the story is meant to be. Much is made of how vicious was the early objection to their work - and how dire their poverty - yet as the painters become accepted, we don't learn how the shift happened or what was the tipping point. By this time in the story, there's more emphasis on Monet's domestic affairs, and Cezanne assumes the role of the artist whose work is reviled as "ugly."

The frame around the narrative (Monet being interviewed in 1920) seems a cumbersome device; the scenes between himself and the journalist lack dramatic interest. It remains difficult to the end to see the continuity between the underfed and sparsely bearded younger man and the portly older artist obsessed with his water lilies and sporting a beard the size of a shovel. Though many years pass, the characters seem not to age or to be much affected by the remarkable developments in their lives, rising from obscurity and poverty to fame and fortune. Maybe all that is too much to ask from a miniseries, but its absence leaves it all very pretty to look at, as it should be, yet seeming a little contrived. January 31, 2008

As breathtaking as their paintings

What an absolute joy! I've read a great deal about the Impressionist movement but the artists never came alive for me they way they did in this film. Everything -- the acting, the cinematography, the music, the editing -- combined for one of the most beautiful, enjoyable and informative films I've ever seen. I don't think I'll ever look at a painting by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas or Cezanne again without thinking of this movie. BRAVO!!!! December 23, 2007

Good - but with a few major flaws!

I have some major reservations with this 3 hour BBC period drama about the Impressionists. Firstly - what happened to CAMILLE PISSARRO? He was (and still is) a major Impressionist painter. He was there from the very beginning and was a very important figure to all the other Impressionist painters such as Monet and Renoir. He's not sighted or even mentioned anywhere in the whole of the three hours of this DVD. Not a word, not an image. It's as if he had never existed. What a shocking oversight! I was stunned by this omission. Secondly - two other Impressionist figures may of been at least mentioned - Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt. That's a pity. It makes the whole drama a bit unbalanced. Finally - the portrayal of Cezanne just doesn't seem to sit right with what I've read about the man. He always seemed to me to be a man who may of deliberately cultivated a peasant gruff manner & mixed it with some southern French peasant arrogance and peasant resentment at the fancy cultivated city types up north (i.e. Paris). Maybe he thought that was the way they saw him (he had a southern French accent too, that didn't help him) and so he may of played up to it. However his portrayal in this DVD seems to be leaning heavily towards the whining and overly nervous personality that seems more than half pycho. I was almost expecting the actor portraying him to suddenly break out with a nervous tick or twitch of his left eye. Well that didn't happen, thank goodness, but I found his portrayal to be wrong and quite disappointing. Others may disagree with this but that's my opinion. December 20, 2007

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