Paula
2016 · France, Germany · 123 min
- Director
- Christian Schwochow
- Screenplay
- Stefan Kolditz, Stephan Suschke
- Producer
- Ingelore König, Christoph Friedel
- Music
- Jean Rondeau
- Cinematography
- Frank Lamm
- Editing
- Jens Klüber
What the critics say
63 % Rotten Tomatoes positive reviewsCast
What it is about
Northern Germany, 1900. Paula Becker is twenty-four and longs for freedom, recognition and the right to paint on her own terms. Married to the painter Otto Modersohn, whom she loves and admires, she feels her work is pushed into the background and that life in the artists' colony at Worpswede is too confining. The film follows her decision to break away and move to Paris, the city of artists, where an experience begins that will reshape her view of art and love.
How it was made
Directed by Christian Schwochow from a screenplay by Stefan Kolditz and Stephan Suschke, the film is a German-French co-production. Carla Juri plays Paula Modersohn-Becker, with Albrecht Schuch as Otto Modersohn, Roxane Duran as Clara Westhoff and Joel Basman as Rainer Maria Rilke. Frank Lamm handled cinematography, Jens Klüber edited, and Jean Rondeau composed the score. The 123-minute drama is shot in German and French and reconstructs the painter's life with a restrained tone and particular attention to her view of the body and of her craft.
Reception and legacy
The film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival and brought wider attention to a painter who had until then been known mainly within specialist circles. Its main value lies in focusing on Paula Modersohn-Becker, regarded as one of the first women to develop a distinctive pictorial language. It belongs to the tradition of biographical films about artists and helped introduce her work to non-specialist audiences.
Stills
Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.