Helene

A superlative movie about the life and work of Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck. This is one of the finest movies about an artist I have ever seen. It captures so much of the artist's emotional inner life and her resulting work. Great script, great casting, great performances and the art direction and photography are incredible. Many sequences are filmed with each shot set up as if it were a living painting. The lighting and color are amazing. If you love art this will make you want to paint.

The shots are filmed as if they were stills with people moving within the shots rather than panning. Outside shots are framed with trees or other structures either side with little panning. Some are worthy of still photo awards. Photos of a lake and field are filmed very low which also gives a different perspective. Inside scenes have a symmetry to them. The subject or other focal point is in the centre of the frame. A point on a wall or corner maybe the centre point then the walls on both sides are equally represented in the frame making each shot very unique. The lighting is also carefully used with candles and little window light illuminating the subjects with side light and managing to keep the home interior dull and drab but enjoyable. A narrow depth of field at times accentuates the subject blurring others. The story is touching but the film is a little slow. I would give it a 7 if were not for the unique framing of scenes.

Boring boring and boring, just wasted 2hrs of my life waiting something to happen. And those paintings my two years old draws better, 4 points for cinematography, acting was so wooden. Avoid at all costs.

I knew nothing about her and this movie just showed me in 2hr beautiful photography and amazing acting (Laura Birn/ Helene, friend and mother) but little else. It seems to me that there was much more to see that her suffering about her lover around all, ALL the time. Her paintings are shown very little, the sparse dialogue and the slow pace are there for dissimulate a poor script and direction. Helene Schjerfbeck deserves something better than this film.

I give this movie only 5 stars out of 10 stars, because one of the movies from this very same director, a movie called "Kätilö" in Finnish, included a gid damn swastika in it's poster. Nevertheless, Helene Schjerfbeck was and will always be one of the greatest painters in Finnish history, but let me remind you everyone that this bloke was just plain wrong guy to direct this kind of movie.