Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti
Directed by: Edouard Deluc
Written by: Edouard Deluc & Etienne Comar & Thomas Tilti & Sarah Kaminsky
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Tuheï Adams, Pua-Taï Hikutini, Pernille Bergendorff
Biography/Drama/Romance - 102 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 16 July 2018
Written by: Edouard Deluc & Etienne Comar & Thomas Tilti & Sarah Kaminsky
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Tuheï Adams, Pua-Taï Hikutini, Pernille Bergendorff
Biography/Drama/Romance - 102 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 16 July 2018
I do not understand director and co-writer Edouard Deluc’s intention for the phenomenally off-putting Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti. It is not a celebration of a painter considered one of the masters, for there is nothing in the film to celebrate. Perhaps it is to educate the audience of the circumstances which inspired the world-renowned art. If so, art lovers might experience a sour taste in their mouths the next time they behold Tahitian themes through Gauguin’s lens. Deluc must recognize no soul could gain a greater appreciation of Gauguin after languishing through this film. This historical fiction contains as much flavor as a piece of bread still decomposing on the counter from the year we meet our man, 1893.
Gauguin (Vincent Cassel, Trance) was not thriving in the Belle Epoque. While Toulouse-Lautrec held court at the Moulin Rouge and Moreau and Matisse established their reputations on the old continent, Gauguin suffered claustrophobia and disenchantment. He dreams of escape to exotic French Polynesia, yet is incredulous when neither any of his friends nor his wife and five children opt to join him. Notice the view is all about Gauguin’s depression and desire for change rather than the awkward situation this thrusts Madame Gauguin into. Gauguin’s selfishness and yearning to sail to the other end of the Earth at the expense of his responsibilities sets a repetitive tone of how he will treat those he encounters once he lands on Tahiti.
Gauguin (Vincent Cassel, Trance) was not thriving in the Belle Epoque. While Toulouse-Lautrec held court at the Moulin Rouge and Moreau and Matisse established their reputations on the old continent, Gauguin suffered claustrophobia and disenchantment. He dreams of escape to exotic French Polynesia, yet is incredulous when neither any of his friends nor his wife and five children opt to join him. Notice the view is all about Gauguin’s depression and desire for change rather than the awkward situation this thrusts Madame Gauguin into. Gauguin’s selfishness and yearning to sail to the other end of the Earth at the expense of his responsibilities sets a repetitive tone of how he will treat those he encounters once he lands on Tahiti.
Deluc, his three co-writers, a named collaborator, and the book it was based on - I can’t believe it took this many sources to create a product this plodding - deliver Gauguin’s thoughts and motivations through letters to his wife via voiceover. The visual montage showing Gauguin’s early Tahitian adventures tell us the man has no business on the island. He does not know how to live off the land, he maintains his old diet vices ensuring poor health, and proves over and over agin he prefers art to people. The perpetually sweaty painter seems surprised again at his alienation; however, when confronted with real life and the opportunity to help another human being, he turns toward the pencil and sketchpad rather than show any particular humanity.
Is this a defense mechanism or a shield Gauguin hides behind - a personality instinct to help him navigate life? Or is Gauguin just a colossal asshole? Deluc and company leave the analysis up to you. Voyage to Tahiti finally free falls off the cliff it was clinging to by its fingernails when what was a story somewhat about artistic integrity and the need to feed the devil of creation turns into the truly banal, a tale of jealousy and adultery. Our patience is already threadbare watching a penniless artist proclaim his genius, but all life support is unplugged with the soap opera marital issues. There is an extremely dry sequence of Gauguin roughing it as a dockworker while he locks his native wife, Tehura (Tuheï Adams) in their apartment wicked witch style.
Deluc believes the best way to tell Gauguin’s story is to cast him as Rapunzel’s wicked kidnapper. The audience wants nothing to do with the man, great painter or not. The story sucks all beauty out of the tropical island for what point? Nobody appreciated or apparently even liked Gauguin while he was alive. If Voyage to Tahiti is your first encounter with the man, you won’t appreciate him posthumously either. Art historians and film directors who want to craft stories about famous artists may do well to consider the art may be better served if we know less about their creators.
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