FROM THE BACK OF THE BOX:
Summer of 1943. In occupied France, not far away from the Spanish border, a famous old sculptor who is tired of life and wars finds the desire to work on his last masterpiece when a beautiful young Spanish girl comes knocking, after escaping a refugee camp in the South of France.
FROM THE BACK OF MY BRAIN:
“The Artist and the Model” opens in the south of occupied France. The war is half over, but the whole Nazi thing has so many people beaten down. That’s when they turn to art to find a way to break out of those fascist doldrums. It’s a great old time in Vichy, when a young girl shows up trying to find a way to return to her homeland. She poses nude and does some stuff, but it doesn’t end up like that scene from “Fame”. Who am I kidding, most of the readers are too young to remember that.
Art during wartime is hard to portray onscreen without coming across as pretentious. You’re either making Oscar bait or you’re stretching an allegory so thin that most people don’t pick up on it. Very rarely does an audience gain anything from material like this in the modern era. That being said, I appreciate it when a film can find the right balance and not preach at people. There’s something amazing here with great International actors presenting an unseen look at the occupied aspects of life during World War II. If that wasn’t enough, it’s neat to see Claudia Cardinale as an older lady.
The Blu-Ray comes with an interview, photo gallery and trailer. The DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track carries every quiet moment and doesn’t drop a word of dialogue. The field of depth on the 1080p transfer was superb. It’s amazing how great black and white movies look in HD. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: 02/11/2014