It is always a difficult task to make a biopic of a painter, but Gauguin's life was too rich not to try again (there are already 18 films and docus dedicated to him).
Just think of his flight to Tahiti, his difficult love for the young 'wild' Téhura and, finally, his relationship with Van Gogh. Hence GAUGUIN by Edouard Deluc, from 17 September in theaters with Draka Distribution and freely taken from 'Noa Noa: The Tahiti Journal' signed by the same master painter of post-Impressionism.
We are in 1891, Gauguin (played by Vincent Cassel) leaves France in search of new stimuli for his painting to which the European reality is close.
Where to find new landscapes and suggestions that are worth painting?
And again: where can you live free, as far as possible from the moral, political and aesthetic codes of old Europe?
With this philosophy in his heart, Gauguin settles in the jungle of Tahiti, challenging loneliness, poverty and disease and here he meets Téhura, a young local who will first become his wife and then the muse of many of his masterpieces.
Not only.
During his stay in Tahiti the painter supported the wild nature of the indigenous people against the cultural interference that pushed towards their own civilization.
"This film was born from my discovery of 'Noa Noa', the illustrated story that Gauguin produced in his first stay in Tahiti from 1891 to 1893 - says the director -. It is a literary work of great poetry, an adventure story with a touch of breathtaking romance. It is a kind of private diary, written with great humanity, about his Tahitian experiences, in which he combines stories, impressions, thoughts, political issues, artistic matters, sketches and watercolors. Ultimately, it is a kind of sumptuous declaration of love for Tahiti, for the Tahitians and for his Tahitian Eva. In 2012 - continues Deluc - I went back to 'Noa Noa', then to all the other writings of Gauguin and to the correspondence with his wife and friends. all that material emerged from the profile of a visionary and inspiring character, who embraced modernity by continually questioning it ".
Who was Gauguin?
"He was an exceptional figure in search of a hedonistic dream: to free himself from all conventions, moral, artistic or political. He wanted to return to the savage life he had already led in Brittany, Panama and Martinique and which had made him emerge on the art scene. In 1891 he made a radical and definitive choice, both sacrificial and rich in inspiration: he left Paris for Polynesia, where he painted with passion, in the total indifference of the European art world.
The result were 66 masterpieces in eighteen months, which marked a turning point. in his career and will influence Fauvism and Cubism, leading in turn to the advent of modern art. The film is built around this moment, "he points out.
“At the cinema, you have to blend into the role. I let my beard grow, I lost weight, as Gauguin was starving - so finally Cassel -. I also wore prosthetic teeth. His appearance was a blend of my fantasy and reality. I learned Tahitian. I invented a gait for him. I built it with touches. Maybe I invented a Gauguin a little cruder than Edouard saw him and imagined him to start getting into the role. "
(HANDLE).
