SERAPHINE

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In writer/director Martin Provost's patiently restrained biopic about the self-trained French painter Seraphine Louis, the audience is brought increasingly closer into the heart and mind of a genius whose turbulent inner life eventually envelops her conscious being.

Yolande Moreau ("Les plages d' Agnes") gives an earthy and compelling performance, measured by her character's direct connection to the natural world around her.

The film's primary achievement lies in connecting Seraphine's '20s era working class life, from freelance house maid to a successful artist, under the inestimable patronage of Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur), a German art critic and collector who champions Seraphine for her scintillating artistic ability.

That the filmmaker does so, while delicately sketching in the underlying influences of World War I and the Great Depression, adds to the film's overall effect as a fully formed narrative of immense social breadth and artistic fulfillment.

(Music Box Films) Not Rated. 128 mins.