Just gorgeous, well acted, beautifully and invisibly directed, though some seem to miss the subtle way the cinematography flattens the spaces and abstract the shapes like Gauguin's best artwork does. Cassel is mesmerizing and looks uncannily like Gauguin's self portraits. His portrayal can make us understand the he had no choice but to paint, and all costs.The simple loving relationship between Paul and Tehura is worn down and corrupted in the same way the People of Polynesia were by sickness and greed introduced by the colonizers. The innocent playful fun, the jealousy, suspicion and pain... this film tells a story that shows there is no running away from the human condition.

Bitter sweet inspiration about a man who truly struggled for his art.I've been a fan of Vincent Cassell for years and he is the only reason why I wanted to see this movie when I saw the poster in a near by theater. Cassell plays Paul Gauguin, an artist who was willing to give up everything: his wife, his 5 children, all to travel down to Tahiti in hopes that the journey would make him a better artist. While down there he stars a romance with a woman who becomes his muse.Cassell, himself was so good in the movie. It was a mixed bag of emotions as Cassell portrays a very selfish man who give up way too much to become a starving artist holding on to the dream that he would find pure inspiration. It was indeed a struggle, but Cassell's performance also show a man who was focus on living his best life. Another great yet low key performance was done by Tuheï Adams who plays Tehura, the muse who became the focus of many of Gauguin's painting. I felt the two of them together had enough chemistry to keep the movie going.Overall, I went to see this movie for Vincent Cassell and I'm very stratified with his performance enough to be interested in the man he portrayed (ignoring how a movie set in the late 1800s is painting a clear picture of what Gentrification looks like today.) Plus Tuhei Adams was a pleasant bonus and I hope to see more of her.

This film fails in every possible way. Even the cinematography manages to flatten the lushness of Tahiti. But the story line is worse. One has to wonder how and why it is near impossible for modern people to reconcile that Gauguin can be both a despicable pedophile and a great artist? I guess this is the fruit of ever decreasing interest in the classics, where literature for 3,000 years did not have the difficulty we have today in portraying real or archetypical legendary persons as both great personages and contemptible.Consider that the entire film fails to mention, even once, this "wife" was 13 years old. That his relationship with her, and the natives, is a refection of his own selfish and predatory individual colonialism. Even his abandonment of his wife and children in France, attested to as abandonment in the sourced biographies, is inverted into them not wanting to come with him.

"Gauguin - Voyage de Tahiti" or just "Gauguin" is a new French movie from this year (2017) that runs for 100 minutes and is the most recent career effort by writer and director Edouard Deluc, his second full feature film. And from what I saw here, we certainly can be curious about his next works. First of all, it needs to be understood that this is not a biopic about the famous painter, but instead a work that focuses on a certain period of his life, namely the one he spent outside France. Yes early on, the scenes are still in France, but these also deal with his upcoming journey already when everybody who he wants to be joined by declines his suggestion, even his wife and children. The focus is on the time in Tahiti though and on romance mostly. And still at the same time, they never forget who he is, a (then not yet) renowned painter, but the film is at least as much about the moments of his live that all of us may find in our lives too, such as love, poverty, profession, jealousy, health etc. all the key aspects that make us who we are.I am slightly a bit biased perhaps as I have been a big Cassel fan for quite a while already and as much as he may succeed as a silent killer in the newest Bourne film, as much he is a perfect choice for playing Gauguin here. I think he delivers usually very well if there is a certain aggressiveness to his characters and that's also the case here. And he shows us that he is also hitting all the right notes if there is no explosion of emotions in the sense of violence of any kind, but when the hopelessness prevails in the end. He does not want to be an enemy in his new world, so he makes the decision finally to return back home, which surprised me a bit as I expected him to die there, but the real story resulted in a different ending. And the film also ends the right moment, i.e. when he leaves this paradise. And there is no need to look back in grief as he found a woman he loved and adored for a long time, he brought art there with the local improving his craft to a level where he can make a living from it and thanks to his journey, he found a really good friend, namely the doctor who kept caring fore Gauguin beyond his medical position.And the film was also a delight visually as it includes stunningly beautiful landscape and seaside shots as well as convincing efforts with costumes, make-up and art direction. I believe the soundtrack was very good too. It's tough to say what the best component was, maybe the writing or Cassel I guess. But this film by now is among the very best I have seen from 2017, a must-see for those who love period pieces, films about painters or just French films in general. It is quite a shame that it probably won't be seen much at all outside of France and certainly not score a great deal of awards attention either except at the Césars perhaps. Cassel shows us an entirely new facet of his range here and proves that he is rightfully among France's most known in America as well. Big thumbs-up to everybody who worked on this film here. It's one without any slight weakness and that is a statement you really cannot make about too many (recent) films. Highly highly recommended.