Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti allows Vincent Cassel to make Gauguin cool again. By cool, I mean dramatizing the fact that he was always a piece of garbage. After abandoning his wife and kids for a cushy government job, Gauguin spent two years in Tahiti living like a coked-up Greek God. He was sexing up and marrying a 13 year old, then having a kid by her. All the while, bad mouthing the culture and trying to force his values on them. It would be something to call him a colonist, but that requires more coordination that he could ever muster.
The film then tries to backpedal and showcase that Gauguin is sickly and lost in the 1890s. I get the depressed artist angle, but Cassel seems to relish in the full portrayal. It’s not a bad film, but it fights itself in terms of tone over the run time. Knowing what is known about the artist, it’s kinda hard to buy the angle that he was tired of moral repression. Sometimes, perverts need someone telling me to slow their game down.
But, that’s walking a thin line about a point this film can’t argue. Oh well, I’d still recommend a viewing.
Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti is now available!
