BONNARD: PIERRE & MARTHE, France, 2023. Starring Cecile de France, Vincent Macaigne, Stacy Martin. Directed by Martin Provost. 122 minutes. Rated MA (Strong suicide scene)
Lovers of French art, especially from the 19th century into the 20th century, will respond to the title of this film. Those not familiar with the art and the artists will be wondering who this couple are.
Pierre Bonnard was a celebrated artist in the 1890s, a friend of other artists, such as Impressionist painters Monet and their ilk, and feted in art circles in Paris. With a number of other artists, he was part of a group who wanted to develop the art movements of the time. And he had, as patrons, some of the business entrepreneurs of the period.
The film opens with him painting a young woman, who works making artificial flowers. She finds posing boring. However, she is swept up by the experience with the painter and begins an impassioned affair with him. She tells him her name is Marthe, with a surname taken from the street where she lives. The audience sees, but the artist, Pierre, does not know that her real name is Maria, and is one of two daughters of an angry, unwell and demanding elderly woman.
Pierre and Marthe remain together for almost 50 years, their union ending with Marthe’s death in 1942.
With such a long life together, the screenwriters had to decide how much of the narrative could be contained in a film of two hours. They opted to focus on four time periods in the life of the couple. The meeting takes place in 1893, establishing the characters, the beginnings of their relationship (not yet marriage because he does not want children, yet her wanting children) and his successful exhibitions. Then there is a 20-year gap (1914), the couple now well-established, with a country villa home, and Pierre an acknowledged success.
Surprisingly the next move is only four years later. It’s 1918, some months before the end of the war which has affected their lives. Pierre was called up and affected by his service, and in the final months there are difficulties with rationing and surviving the upheavals of the time. However, the focus this time is on another character, a young model at the Art Institute, Renée (Martin) with whom Pierre becomes infatuated. Marthe, while still the muse and loving her husband, has turned into the practical housewife.
It is in this period that there is a most drama about the relationship between the couple as it explores Pierre’s infatuation with the model, her entry into the household, her travelling to
Rome with Pierre where he paints her and his decisions about the affair.
But this is also a period when Marthe starts to paint. Her art is something in the style of her husband’s work, yet with her own individual perceptions. There is an exhibition of her work which is well received. But this period in their life is also marked by tragedy.
Finally, it is 1942. The couple are elderly. Marthe who has been a lifelong asthmatic, is now very ill. Pierre, as always, continues to paint. And he does at the end, painting his wife’s favourite almond tree blossoming.
One of the difficulties for appreciating this film is the mostly one-dimensional portrait of Pierre. On the other hand, de France brings Marthe to vivid life, making her a multi-dimensional, interesting character that elicits audience sympathies.
Palace Films
Released 12 September