Serafine

Photo Credit: http://evelynej.unblog.fr/2008/10/06/seraphine-de-senlis/

I honestly can't remember the last time I just sat at home and watched a movie all the way through.  Especially a French movie, with subtitles.


My pilates instructor, Margaret, had been on me for ages to watch the movie Serafine since she saw it last year, and I finally signed up for Netflix this morning, so what was the first thing I watched?

Photo Credit: http://cbx41.com

A quiet, slow-paced movie, that gives you plenty of room to question and infer, Serafine was anything but tranquil.  No, it reminded me too much of other artists' stories, Camille Claudel for one, Van Gogh for another, and the too familiar, sad, tragic, lonely end of these peoples' lives that really bums me out. (Pardon the terrible, cheesy movie trailers; I remember both movies as having actually been much better than these make them seem.)


It brought me back to the age-old question, do the artistic temperament and mental neuroses/psychoses go hand in hand, or are they completely separate issues?

Photo Credit: http://flickriver.com

Can one be truly inspired (imbued with spirit) without there being some kind of imbalance or instability in the mind?  Send me your two cents on this, if you like. I'd be interested to know what you think.

Photo Credit: thatchwick.blogspot.com

Well, needless to say, this was not a movie for answering any of those questions.  But I do hope you enjoy a look at this woman's unique and colorful art.