Tuesday, May 5, 1998
Life of painter Artemisia Gentileschi luxuriates in discovery of
self, sexuality
FILM: Passionate Baroque artist blazed cultural trails in
conventional world
By Jammie Salagubang
Daily Bruin Contributor
"Art" means, well, art. "Amnesia" means forgetfulness,
insensibleness. Put them together and it sort of sounds like
"Artemisia," the name of a Baroque painter, which is also the title
of a film by Agnes Merlet based on the artist’s life.
However, Artemisia embodied the opposite of what her name
implies. If anything, she was overly sensitive to art; she made her
art her life and vice versa. Instead of trying to forget, she
wanted to learn how to reveal.
"To me, it’s a movie of discovery – discovery of life, discovery
of sexuality, discovery of art," says Valentina Cervi, who plays
the title role.
Born in a time when men ruled the art world, Artemisia
Gentileschi nevertheless became one of the first women painters.
The movie depicts Artemisia defying conventional rules of
propriety. She draws nude pictures of herself that her Mother
Superior disapproves of and leaves that convent so she can pursue
artistic studies. She also tries to join the Art Academy, but they
reject her because of her gender.
Artemisia desperately wants the chance to draw the male nude
body, but her father, Orazio Gentileschi (Michel Serrault),
prohibits her because of societal concerns, so she takes matters
into her own hands and asks an old friend to pose for her.
"Being so strong in her belief, going beyond everyone and
everything really showed her passion," Cervi says.
Though Cervi read much about the life of the painter, she gained
the most knowledge about Artemisia through her paintings. She
viewed many of them and says she just tried to look at them without
judging the artist; she just tried to fill herself with Artemisia’s
paintings and understand them.
"I saw a 17-year-old girl out of the convent without having the
experience of what sexuality was, what sex is, what death is, of
what darkness is, and portraying all these things without
experience. (Yet) I think that without having the experience we can
portray whatever we want (because) we have everything inside
already," Cervi says.
She continues: "A woman who was able to express herself so
strongly, so faithfully and so truthfully was something really
meaningful to me and something I wanted to uncover."
But first Cervi had to overcome difficulties of her own. The
Italian actress says she practiced French six hours a day to make
the film, which is all in French. She also started painting to
become comfortable with the instruments and tried to switch from
her way of observing life to how a painter would observe life.
"In the moment that I was playing her I didn’t want to think too
much, I just wanted to be," Cervi says. "I really wanted to portray
her as a human being with a weakness because that’s what art is –
talking about how fragile we are. Art is something to whom everyone
can portray themselves, so if you’re not in contact with nature,
with simplicity, you cannot portray art."
Artemisia herself is a very naive person at the start of the
movie. Straight from the convent, she shows a healthy, but
decidedly not sexual interest in male bodies. Only after her
controversial affair with the painter Agostino Tassi (Miki
Manojlovic) does she open up sexually and artistically. During this
time, she painted "Judith Beheading Holofemis," a striking painting
depicting the death of a man at the hands of two women.
"I think she was a very silent person, she was someone who was
not able to express herself with words, she would rather express
herself with painting," Cervi reflects. "I think she was a little
bit afraid of others and the only thing she could be calm with, she
could be good with was her art."
Cervi also says it was not that difficult to play Artemisia
because she feels a connection with her. It also helped that Agnes
Merlet, the director of the film, gave her a lot of freedom in
defining the role.
"I think (Merlet) is a very sensitive person," Cervi says. "I
think she did (that) because Artemisia had to take the whole
responsibility of her life."
Merlet’s film ran into problems due to some rather graphic
content of sexual and nude scenes and garnered an NC-17 rating.
However, Cervi says they appealed and the rating was changed to "R"
without cutting the movie. Like Artemisia, this movie pushes the
boundaries of propriety to open up the world of art, for the
process of discovering can be just as important as what is
found.
"I think that it’s important for everyone to really look
sincerely to yourself and find which is your way to be creative,"
Cervi says. "For human beings, it’s very important to express
yourself in any way you find possible, just give to other
people."
FILM: "Artemisia" opens Friday.
Miramax Zoe
Valentina Cervi plays a self-discovering young painter in
"Artemisia."