Januzczak has done an amazing job in his effort, as he explains at the beginning of this two hour film, to dispel the common conception of Gauguin - 'o yea, that rotter who left his wife and kids to run away and have sex with young teenage girls in Tahiti!' - with something resembling factual truth. For example, in point of fact, it was more of a case of her kicking him out than his abandoning her.
Januzczak spared no effort in this reclamation project. Tracking down the very houses - if they still exist - in which Gauguin lived during the many, many moves throughout his life, Januzczak is the ever present narrator explaining what must have been going on in Gauguin's mind and soul during its stays in - wait for it - France, Peru, France, Denmark, France, Panama, France, Tahiti, France, Tahiti and finally, the Marquesas Islands, where he died. The relevant pieces of art, both painting and sculpture, relevant to each period are presented and, if needed, analyzed in at least a cursory manner. The exuberant sexual proclivities of the man are recounted, as is his painful final battle with syphilis.
Just two of my favorite revelations from among the many with which this film is replete: in Arles, for the climatic two months he spent there with van Gogh, the explanation is made that all financial resources were organized by the two artists by the priorities which placed the rent third, tobacco second and brothel trips first. Then, during his second sojourn in Tahiti, during which he tried unsuccessfully to get his paintings recognized at an exposition in Paris in 1900, he decided to kill himself. Using his failing legs, he climbed a mountain, ingested a quantity of arsenic, threw it all up, slept through the night, and had to retrace his way back down in the morning to live, as it turned out, for another three years.
I would have liked to have had a more detailed exposition of the highly personal and unique artistic technique Gauguin employed, seemingly from the very beginning of his efforts in the early 1870s, but Januzczak seems more of an objective historian than a subjective art critic which, for the purposes of this film, is more than satisfactory.
A truly amazing exposition of a truly amazing artist.
Januzczak spared no effort in this reclamation project. Tracking down the very houses - if they still exist - in which Gauguin lived during the many, many moves throughout his life, Januzczak is the ever present narrator explaining what must have been going on in Gauguin's mind and soul during its stays in - wait for it - France, Peru, France, Denmark, France, Panama, France, Tahiti, France, Tahiti and finally, the Marquesas Islands, where he died. The relevant pieces of art, both painting and sculpture, relevant to each period are presented and, if needed, analyzed in at least a cursory manner. The exuberant sexual proclivities of the man are recounted, as is his painful final battle with syphilis.
Just two of my favorite revelations from among the many with which this film is replete: in Arles, for the climatic two months he spent there with van Gogh, the explanation is made that all financial resources were organized by the two artists by the priorities which placed the rent third, tobacco second and brothel trips first. Then, during his second sojourn in Tahiti, during which he tried unsuccessfully to get his paintings recognized at an exposition in Paris in 1900, he decided to kill himself. Using his failing legs, he climbed a mountain, ingested a quantity of arsenic, threw it all up, slept through the night, and had to retrace his way back down in the morning to live, as it turned out, for another three years.
I would have liked to have had a more detailed exposition of the highly personal and unique artistic technique Gauguin employed, seemingly from the very beginning of his efforts in the early 1870s, but Januzczak seems more of an objective historian than a subjective art critic which, for the purposes of this film, is more than satisfactory.
A truly amazing exposition of a truly amazing artist.