A friendship in broad strokes
A turbulent friendship of French cultural giants, the bond between post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne and novelist Emile Zola makes for agreeable big-brushstroke historical drama in Danièle Thompson’s “Cézanne et Moi.” Flitting between the pair’s theworld-is-ours youth in Aixen-Provence and their middle-aged estrangement, Thompson has created a showcase for her blustery actors, Guillaume Canet (as Zola) and Guillaume Gallienne (as Cézanne), and a sincere if soapy depiction of passions inflamed by upbringing, rebellion, women and fame. Cézanne was the angry rich kid turned nosethumbing, outsider artist, and Gallienne’s full-throttle performance is the standout, while Canet’s portrait of a once poor, clear-eyed social realist who let success turn him hypocritically bourgeois, makes for a chillier trajectory. They get fine support by Alice Pol as Zola’s wife, Alexandrine, and Déborah Francois as Cézanne’s muse turned companion Hortense, both of whom get their moments to push back against the men’s stifling personalities. But it’s a breezy efficiency at work in managing the hot arguments, bruised egos and reconciliations, more indicative of Thompson’s light-entertainment chops than any fresh insight into the minds of its subjects. Ever-present is the mild dissonance of fiery pioneers of expression inspiring charmingly pretty if standard art house fare.
“Cézanne et Moi.” In French with English subtitles. Rated: R, for language, sexual references and nudity. Running time: 1 hour, 53 minutes. Playing: Laemmle Royal, Playhouse 7, Town Center.