Camille Claudel 1915

Country: France
Director: Bruno Dumont

Juliette Binoche gives a mesmerizing performance as the brilliant sculptress, protégé of Auguste Rodin, and later his mistress, who, by 1915, was confined to a remote, church-run asylum for the mentally ill near Avignon. The rigorous, hypnotic portrait suggests that Camille’s intense creativity and bohemian mores were on an inevitable, tragic collision course with her conventional Christian family and the expectations of early 20th century French society. Camille’s paranoia and occasional violent outbursts complicate her situation. Dumont peoples his film with real asylum patients, giving the film a disturbingly realistic dimension that adds to its poignancy. (2013; 95 min)



32nd Three Rivers Film Festival
November 8-23, 2013