Isabelle Adjani has been blessed by the Greek Gods . She has an enormous talent , sideral beauty and radiant magnetism in screen .
She has been nominated just for two roles in which the madness has been a common denominator : The story of Adelle H and this work.
Adjani plays the role of a sculptress and the film tells about the slow process of decay and madness of this artist . Depardieu as Auguste Rodin is magnificent but she literally steals the show and really convinces us .
Consider this superb sextet : Simone Signoret (the best french actress in the XX century) , Catherine Deneuve , Isabelle Adjani , Isabelle Hupert , Natalie Baye and Fanny Ardant and you will have the complete team of french top actress in the seventies and middle of the eighties .
The film is wonderfully directed with a superb artistic direction and even best photograph .
One adittional proof the cinema is the seventh art by far .

This is a very slow and very methodical film that will defiantly put you to sleep before it sparks any insightful conversation.

Skip it at all costs.

Please, for the safety of others, do not watch this film. If by sheer chance you do pick up this film and you have not realized it, call HAZMAT immediately. Let them know that you have seen or are holding this film and you will need an amputation immediately. Keep your hand in cool water, and wait with a bottle of anything until the paramedics arrive. I promise, it will be all over soon!

Grade: * out of *****

Although this film is the story of an artist and does contain many scenes of art in progress, it plays more like a character study than a bioflick on Camille Claudel. It does run a bit long (a near three hours) but it is worth the time. Isabelle Adjani is masterfully brillant throughout. This is the sort of part which demands everything that an actor can give, and boy, did she deliver! If you are learning the art of acting, this can seriously be used as a textbook. Not to take anything away from Gerard Depardieu's commanding performance, but Isabelle Adjani is one of those actors that has mastered the use of body language. Her stares, breathing, flinches, smiles, all tell the story so powerfully, that this movie could have been filmed in silence. Adjani has provided with this performance, a trip through the heart and mind that is painstakingly rendered through flawless cinematography and direction. You can't ask for a better work of art from an actress and crew than this; it wouldn't be fair.

I began watching this film on a late night of insomnia....it didn't help me to sleep and that's a good thing!

Isabelle Adjani artfully plays real life French sculpturess, Camille Claudel. She displays pure emotion and passionate reactions such that she is completely believable as the tragic yet talented Claudel. Claudel becomes Auguste Rodin's assistant and eventual lover/muse. They fight and compete for fame together and seperately with Claudel always the more talented but underscored by Rodin's jealously and fierce connections to the art world. In the end Claudel succumbs to a broken and ravaged heart betrayed in many ways by her one true love, Rodin.

I recently returned from a trip to Paris and having seen first hand the sculptures created by Claudel and Rodin I am even more impressed with this tragic story of talented yet conflicted artists. To see the obvious gentleness with which Claudel can carve marble and to feel the warmth that stems from a slab of cold stone left me mesmerized by her talent. Rodin appears clumsy and inept next to her creations despite his world reknown fame. I will always wonder what a woman of her talent could have created had she been alive today and not under the influence of an egotistical maniac!

As a French major, this is an excellent film. The language is clear (the nudity is a little inappropriate for some ages, though). I've seen this film twice some months apart and each time it was certainly engaging.

The pace was a little frustrating near the end, but considering the topic at hand (the demise of a promising artist), it is understandable. What does make an impression are the images. Many of the scenes have almost a photographic quality - very nice cinematography. The relationship between Camille and Rodin is very full of little nuances that keep the viewer engaged, too.

This is a great film for pleasure, an art classroom or a history class. Obviously, francophiles would love it, were they to see it!