StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

John Osburn Cinema is the art of the photographic image as it slips away, failing to establish itself, and is given over to the death of the present and the rebirth of the moment. The motion picture that is conscious of the beauty of its own image, and the desire to maintain it, as a photograph or a sculpture might, will naturally dwell upon its subjects, yet with a gorgeous futility. The change from frame to frame is unavoidable, indeed part of the texture of the cinema, whether it arises from the wind, or the breath of the human subject, or the movement of the hand that washes the foot, or some faint tremor of the camera. This is an aesthetic of insatiate desire, and Fernando Trueba's THE ARTIST AND THE MODEL is its veritable model.I want to own his film, to be able to freeze its black-and-white images on my DVR and gaze on them at will... READ MORE: http://osburnt.com/the-artist-and-the-model/

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "El artista y la modelo" is writer-director Fernando Trueba's newest project and his return to live action after a thoroughly successful trip into the world of animation, which brought him his first Academy Award nomination for "Chico & Rita" two years ago. Almost more impressive is the writer behind "The Artist and the Model": Jean-Claude Carrière won an Oscar 50 years ago, had several nominations afterward and is known to be a longtime companion of Luis Buñuel. Carrière is consequently into his 80s already and same goes for the lead actor here: Jean Rochefort. He plays a sculptor who finds a new model that inspires him to create one more sculpture, possibly his masterpiece.2012 was certainly a huge year for black and white movies in Spain. "Blancanieves" dominated the Goya Awards and "El artista y la modelo" wasn't far behind with nomination in pretty much all the relevant categories, even if it did not win that much. While I'm usually very fond of black-and-white films, the topic of art may be a difficult one for these. It may have hurt the overall result even a bit. You could certainly make a point that it's appropriate for the bleakness of this film taking place during wartime, but still the magnificent colors of the landscape or even the people (especially Aida Folch obviously) could have elevated the film considerably. The movie is very similar to "Renoir", France's most recent Oscar submission for the foreign language category, but as a whole I think I'd prefer "Renoir" and the colors are one main aspect, as is the look at the early years of the young Jean Renoir and his first steps into the movie industry. That's missing here a bit, maybe a second minor plot to keep the audience interested.The ending of "El artista y la modelo" is a difficult one. You'll either love it or hate it. That much is safe. You could certainly argue that it was not really foreseeable and mainly included for shock purposes, but you could also say that predictability can be boring and this way of closing the film certainly wasn't. It's up to you. One parallel that I really enjoyed a lot was the different, yet similar, ways Rochefort's character said goodbye to the soldier and the girl. Both included th pretending of a possibility they'll meet again, which probably never existed. However, both were so different from comparing the characters he said goodbye to and his relation to these that you could certainly analyze them to death.Finally, I'd like to add that the great Claudia Cardinale and Chus Lampreave occasionally added some nice comic relief to the film that was very much appreciated as the film as a whole was very bleak. I was not particularly fond of the inclusion of the girl's boyfriend and I felt it added almost nothing to the story, maybe a slight reference to the war, but that aspect was covered already enough in my opinion with the arrival of Götz Otto's character. Rochefort's character once said in the film. He doesn't care about the war, he just wants to finish a sculpture, which summarizes the movie pretty accurately. The war is the setting, but it's really just the frame and does not play a major role. The center is the artistry.

jkbonner1 I went to see this movie based on the premise that its chief theme concerned an older man, the artist Marc Clos (Jean Rochefort), who instills his wisdom of life to a young woman--his model Merce (Aida Folch), a young Catalan woman--before his life is over. The year is 1943 (inferred because the battle of Stalingrad is mentioned several times) and France is occupied by the Germans. To capture this epoch, the movie's filmed in black and white. I understand this but I would have preferred color to capture the beauty of the physical landscape and the beauty of the Merce's bodyscape. But that's a minor quibble.Merce has escaped from a Spanish prison camp where she was interned for five years after the end of the Spanish Civil War (1935-1938). She is hungry and in desperate need of shelter and drifts into the French border village where Marc and Lea Clos (Lea played effectively by Claudia Cardinale) live. Marc is a sculptor and Lea knows what kind of woman he likes to draw and sculpt. And Merce fits the bill. So she is given food and a place to sleep in Marc's studio over the stable. And she is paid to model for Marc.Much of the movie involves Marc trying to find the right pose for Merce and he makes numerous drawings, many of which he discards, before finally setting out on the sculpture of her nude body.The movie really doesn't have much conflict or driving force. Marc is a very taciturn artist who doesn't say much but gets annoyed at Merce because often she doesn't know what exactly he wants. She's new to being a model and he doesn't exactly articulate very well what he wants. I saw very little of Marc offering up his wisdom on life, due I suppose to his quiet non-talkative nature. He does effectively convey the frailty of his body as he feels Merce's supple youthful body with his hands. These actions rather than words inform us of his approaching end and reveal his sadness that life is slipping away. Marc is grouchy and taciturn, but basically he is a good man. But all this doesn't lend itself to much drive in the movie. Finally Marc finishes his sculpture of Merce and she leaves via bicycle. Lea warns her to be careful because an occupying army in defeat is worse than a victorious one. But Merce encounters no Germans and Marc sits on his porch chair holding his old rifle on his lap. We see a cluster of birds in a tree. Then a shot rings out and they scatter. Did Marc commit suicide or did he fire to scare off the birds? Because he scattered a group of prying children with his gun, he might just as well have scattered the birds. Or maybe he decided that he'd beat death at its own game. We don't know. The movie could have been more engaging although one could argue it makes its points more subtly. I rate it seven out of ten.

guy-bellinger Movies like "Belle époque" or "Two Much", directed by Spanish filmmaker Fernando Trueba, were pleasant but rather shallow. But for some time (particularly since "Chico & Rita" in 2010), Trueba's cinema, while still celebrating woman and her beauty, has become more and more profound, something art lovers will certainly not complain about. Belonging to this vein,"L'artiste et son modèle" ("The Artist and the Model" in the USA), the Spanish director's latest effort, not only displays this newly acquired maturity but it is even downright close to perfection. As a matter of fact the viewers, provided they are not put off by the film's slow contemplative rhythm (but a rhythm there is), will be invited to a fascinating journey into the heart of things, into the essence of life. No less! With "The Artist and the Model", Trueba has not made just another movie, but achieved a real work of art that touches us deeply, building on a very simple but all the more powerful story: Marc, an elderly sculptor living in the heart of nature, far from the madding war (I mean World War II), finds a new muse in the (charming) person of a young Spanish refugee and undertakes the last (and certainly the most important) work of his life. And this is not just another story either, but one told with oozing sincerity and total commitment. Both sensual and philosophical, Marc's last adventure (inspired by the last experiences of Aristide Maillol working with his final muse Diana Vierny) allows Fernando Trueba to examine two themes of utmost importance to him: his love of beauty and particularly of the female body and his love of art (and of sculpture in particular). Another mark of dedication is the emotional tribute he pays to his brother, a famous sculptor who died prematurely in the 1990s. Now at the top of his art, the formerly superficial director has become able to describe life and nothing else, without relying on any easy plot twist or cinematic effect, without the obvious advantages of color (but what a luminous black and white cinematography!), without the support of a musical score (but what an enhancement of the sounds produced by nature, by objects moving, by human voices!). Having, more than one common point with the character he embodies, Jean Rochefort is the right man in the right place. Like the aging sculptor, he is at the end of a long and successful career. Like Mercè's sculpture for Marc, this film could well be the achievement of Rochefort's life time. In any case, the French actor, who lends the old sculptor his own weary and caustic sensibility, is the right man. His female partner, Aida Folch, who plays Mercè, the young model, gives off the right dose of sensuality while managing to make apparent her intelligence and her strong convictions beyond the academic beauty of her body. In the more discreet role of Marc's longtime wife, Claudia Cardinale turns a convincing performance."L'artiste et son modèle" is one of the best films made on the theme of artists at work. Its message is, just like its script, both simple and powerful : "Learn to look at the world around you. Do not be content to give a sweeping, utilitarian look, try to see things and living creatures the way they are, in all their tell-tale details. Just the way Marc teaches Mercè to look at a Rembrandt drawing in one of the most fascinating scenes of the movie. A valuable lesson, both of art and life.