- The Impressionists (BBC drama)
"The Impressionists" is a 3 part factual drama from the
BBC , which reconstructs the origins of the Impressionist art movement.Narrative
Based on archive letters, records and interviews from the time, the series records the lives of the artists who were to transform the art world. A tale of poverty and of a struggle for recognition, set against a backdrop of war and revolution.
At the heart is the brotherhood of artists, bonded by enduring friendships and their commitment to a new type of art. The story is led by the paintings. Some of the world's most memorable art works are recreated, following the same techniques that the artists used at the time.
The series reveals how
Claude Monet took just 40 minutes to paint his seminal work "" in a race against time to capture the light; why Manet's depiction of Olympia, in which his model brazenly gazes out of the canvas, so outraged Parisian society; and howCézanne 's 60 paintings of one mountain,Montagne Saint-Victoire , laid the foundations forCubism andmodern art .Julian Glover plays 80-year-old Monet, the "father ofImpressionism " and narrator of the series. He undertakes a nostalgic but painful journey as he looks back on his past life in an interview with a journalist at his garden inGiverny .He remembers arriving as a young man in
Paris in1862 full of dreams about a new kind of art. Young Monet, played by Richard Armitage, leads the group of friends with his vision for paintings that capture the images, energy and light of the modern world.In the drama,
Monet describes his fellow artists and supporters with whom he struggled and shared so much:Bazille , played byJames Lance , the little known genius who died too soon to enjoy the movement's success;Renoir , played byCharlie Condou , an irrepressible lover and painter of women;Manet , played byAndrew Havill whose work wasMonet 's first inspiration, but was censored by society;Degas , played byAden Gillett , who captured the back stage reality of the ballet world;Cézanne , played byWill Keen , whose innovative work determined the path of modern art.Amanda Root plays Alice Hoschedé,Monet 's great love. Using quotes from the primary sources, the series depicts the characters' idiosyncrasies—Cézanne 's hatred of barking dogs, his mistress Hortense's love of lemonade,Monet 's flamboyant dress sense andDegas ' irritability.Production
The film was shot on location in
Provence andNormandy , atMonet 's garden atGiverny , and in locations in theUK .The series was filmed with the Panasonic SDX 900 DVCPRO 50 professional camcorder in widescreen 25fps progressive mode. [ [http://www.vmi.tv/equipment/product-details/?pid=11 DVC Pro 50 Camcorder SDX-900] ]
References
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