Renoir

Given the broad timespan shaping the artistic dynasty from great impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir to his son Jean, a giant of the cinema, this biographical study astutely focuses on the summer of 1915. In his seventies, Renoir père (Michel Bouquet) battles fierce arthritis to get his ideas on canvas, captivated by new teen muse Andrée (Christa Théret). She’s about to have her head turned by the return of his son Jean (Vincent Rottiers), back to recuperate from wounds sustained in the war. The film assumes some knowledge to ponder how these events cast their influence over Jean’s subsequent celluloid endeavours. But it also avoids the melodrama of many biopics, choosing instead to let us read between the lines of daily routine on the family estate at Cagnes-sur-Mer. As such, it doesn’t make a forceful argument for the genius of father or son. Yet, thanks to ace Taiwanese cameraman Mark Ping Bing Lee, it conveys the inspirational qualities of sun-dappled light and rosy flesh.