Rodin Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Rodin Blu-ray Movie Review

Not to be confused with 'Rodan'.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 6, 2018

Camille Claudel and Camille Claudel, 1915 each documented in their own way the fractious relationship (or at least the aftermath of the relationship) between Claudel and her mentor and lover, Auguste Rodin. Both of the Claudel films provided showcases for the actresses portraying the troubled sculptress, with Camille Claudel’s Isabelle Adjani making history for becoming the first French actress to score a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal (her first was for The Story of Adèle H.), and with Camille Claudel 1915’s Juliette Binoche receiving love letters from the critics, even if no major awards or nominations followed in that particular wake. Perhaps because Claudel is such a fascinating subject in her own right, Rodin had insurmountable obstacles to begin with, since its emphasis on the “he said” side of the story has to confront the fact that Rodin (Vincent Lindon) is seen by many historians as at least contributing to the eventual mental and emotional unraveling of Claudel (Izïa Higelin). The fact that Rodin is arguably a less than sympathetic figure is actually just one issue Rodin has, but perhaps an even more debilitating element is some of the most ridiculous dialogue any high falutin’ “artistic” biographical motion picture has spouted in recent memory (at least for this particular reviewer). The film is impeccably handsome, and features a “who’s who” of French cultural icons wandering through Rodin’s life, but the whole film is curiously lifeless, certainly an odd thing for a film about a sculptor whose works are often seen to be just as curiously almost alive.

Just in case anyone is wondering, the film makes it abundantly clear that Rodin is an inspired artist because every time he approaches a lump of clay he literally begins to hyperventilate (the sound of his breathing suffuses the soundtrack to almost comedic effect in some scenes). The film opens with Rodin responding to his first “real” commission, to create “The Gates of Hell,” but the film’s kind of odd elisions include a lot of the back story of his relationship with Claudel. Instead, the film kind of begins in medias res, with Claudel already an assistant at Rodin’s studio and with the two moving into “hot and heavy” territory, all with very little context provided in the screenplay by Jacques Doillon (who also directed).

What is rather disjunctive about Rodin is how it concentrates on vignettes rather than any sense of a real through line. In fact the film plays weirdly like old vaudeville routines in a way, with an “episode” followed by a blackout, with little to no linking material. That gives things a kind of redacted, “Reader’s Digest” feeling that perhaps keeps any emotion from building. It seems like a self defeating strategy about a sculptor who is rightly seen as reinvigorating his art, and it’s especially odd given what has been repeatedly documented (including in those aforementioned films about Camille Claudel) as an absolutely tempestuous love affair. The film is also kind of haphazard in its trajectory depicting Rodin’s life over several decades, with a relative lack of “aging” makeup applied to Lindon that makes the time shifts seem kind of random, and perhaps even tangential to the story.

The best parts of Rodin are perhaps understandably the largely wordless moments where the sculptor is seen creating some of his most iconic works. There’s real fluidity to Lindon’s work in these scenes, as he massages and molds clay into various shapes, and one gets a real sense of what Rodin might have been like in his studio. Kind of amusingly, some may find scenes of him sculpting nudes decidedly more erotic than some of the sequences documenting bedtime shenanigans between Rodin and Claudel. While the film gives lip service to the kinda sorta ménage à trois between Rodin, Claudel and Rose Beuret (Severine Caneele), the film never really capitalizes on the outsized emotions it seems to be hinting at. In fact at times the living characters come off as something akin to statues themselves, albeit statues who have to spout some truly ridiculous sounding lines about genius, artistic creation and the vagaries of making a living in something as perilous as sculpting. To borrow a term of art (or Art, as the case may be) from painting, Rodin frequently feels like (and at times even looks like) the cinematic equivalent of a still life.

Rodin Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rodin is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. The IMDb lists the somewhat sinister sounding Red Weapon as the camera utilized to digitally capture the imagery, though I'm wondering if this might have been finished at a 4K DI since fine detail is often so exceptional, even in some rather dimly lit studio scenes. I'm frankly more consistently impressed with some Red shot features than Arri Alexa for some reason, and that trend continues with Rodin, which offers a somewhat cool palette, often tinged with slate grays or icy blues, but which still offers a nice variety in hues, almost always with very lifelike saturation levels. Some of the textures on things like Rodin's bristly beard or even the lumps of clay with which he works are virtually palpable, sometimes even in midrange shots. Some may wish that some of the outdoor material popped with a bit more warmth, and there are a couple of very minor flirtations with banding during some sudden light intensity changes, but otherwise this is a really stunning looking transfer of an often gorgeous looking film.

Rodin Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rodin features a nice sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that pumps considerable surround activity through the side and rear channels courtesy of Philippe Sarde's evocative score. Even some of the smaller scale scenes in Rodin's studio have good ambient environmental effects dotting the surround, as when a bunch of giggling female models run in and chatter amongst themselves. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly and all elements are prioritized smartly on this problem free track.

Rodin Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Sculpting Rodin (1080p; 31:12) offers some interesting interviews with Jacques Doillon and author Véronique Mattiussi.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:07)

Rodin Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rodin is often a sumptuous viewing experience, but it frankly left me pretty stone cold (no sculpture pun intended) on an emotional level, something that strikes me as incredibly odd given the outsized passions (both Artistic and carnal) it details. Performances are generally quite impressive, even if a litany of French notables like Monet, Cézanne and Hugo are consigned to basic cameos that don't really allow the actors portraying them to delve very deeply. Technical merits are first rate for those considering a purchase.