Summary
Maxim Ford directed Picture of Beauty, a 2017 British erotic period drama film, which takes place within the early 20th century. The film’s plot examines the relationship between art and personal awakening within the conservative pre-modern Europe. The storyline centers around a painter, Franek, who accepts a commission to create a series of portraits dedicated to feminine beauty. He casts two young women, Julia and Stephanie, as models for his paintings. Simple artistic projects turn into life-changing immersions for all participants.
Julia is a “young woman of spirit” with an untamed curiosity who reveals her subtle defiance to the order of things as she interacts freely with the world around her. Stephanie is more restrained and rather conventional. During the painting sessions, however, both of them turn into very active sculptors of their own personas. Their imagination along with the quiet serenity of the countryside manor, with its stunning landscapes, becomes a channel through which they can liberate their souls and bodies.
Franek the Painter is not simply a spectator, but rather a protagonist who deals with a blend of a person’s desires, loving something richly, and morals. The women in his life propel him to acknowledge his weaknesses and contradictions, intertwining his reality with the purpose of his journey.
At first, the plot flows almost identically as with any other art-related film, but deepens into an exploration assuming other forms – an artistic reflection on the untamed flight from boundaries of social norms, sex, and the unexpressed longing within. Blend situation and spatial context with the fog of fantasy, and one will find a new character that personifies and reiterates timeless, yet unachieved themes of the film – beauty, silence, and self-contemplation.
Cull & Coat
Main Cast
Taylor Sands as Julia
During the film, Sands magnificently portrays Julia from an exposed gawker into a full grown woman embracing her identity and newly discovered strength.
Danielle Rose as Stephanie
Stephanie was the most reserved character and Rose depicts her in a calculation manner. This turned her character’s inner alteration into the most captivating arc within the film.
Pawel Hajnos as Franek
Hajnos interprets the character of the artist with a certain pained calm, cataylsing change while simultaneously undergoing a subtle metamorphosis of his own.
Magdalena Bochan-Jachimek as Hazel
Hazel is a metaphoric figure in the household representative of the old world and tradition who usually stands in quiet resistance to the progressive changes occurring.
Joanna Mazewska as Magdelena, Joanna Sobocinska as Delilah, Ernestyna Winnicka as the Marriage Broker
These minor figures provide insight into the socio-cultural context that the main characters are trying to escape from.
Production Team
Music by Maciej Kierzkowski
The score is minimal and very suggestive at the same time, commonly using soft noises and gentle piano motifs to accentuate the contemplative nature of the film.
Editing by Mariusz Kus
The editing style matches the gentle flow of the film and encourages the audience to take their time reflecting at each frame, capturing the experience akin to contemplating a masterpiece.
Produced by Elzbieta Trzeciak
The focus on period accuracy and unpolished natural elements in the film’s production enhances the visual elements of storytelling.
Filming Location: Poland
The Polish countryside captures the essence of the film’s solitude, beauty and self-discovery.
Language: English
Duration: 70 Minutes
IMDb Rating and Critical Reception
Picture of Beauty has a modest rating of 3.9 out of 10 on IMDb. This score reflects a mixed reception, divided between critics and viewers. Many have lauded the film for its evocative aesthetic and approach to eroticism as a form of self-exploration, while others have noted that it lacks narrative depth and emotional engagement.
Some audience members consider the film a meditation of sorts, noting its almost painterly quality through the rich visuals, soft natural light, and the absence of action and dialogue. For such viewers, the film’s languorous rhythm and paucity of speech becomes an invitation to explore its deeper meaning and creative intent.
Still, detractors take issue with the overarching lack of character development and dramatic intensity. While the narrative’s stillness is, for some, poetically striking, others may find it unbearably dull, uneventful, or devoid of plot-driven action and conflicts.
Regardless, Picture of Beauty is arguably at its strongest in its almost unsparing dedication to visual storytelling and its earnest representation of female sensuality that avoids exploitation. It refrains from demonizing or glorifying the characters’ self-discoveries, instead observing with what seems like a detached but deeply empathetic gaze, akin to a painter.
Themes and Interpretation
As discussed previously throughout the film and in class, Picture of Beauty encases the subject of self-liberation through the enjoyment of beauty, nature, and all things aesthetically pleasing. It examines how a person may ‘see’ other people – not through the eyes of a photographer’s lens or painter’s brush, but within.
The movie has a is a graceful criticism regarding a certain gender role and its societal imprints. When the narrative allows Julia and Stephanie to venture into self-exploration beyond the parameters of patriarchal society, it becomes a defiant whisper against the norms of its period. It portrays femininity not as something delicate or passive, rather, as robust and self-possessed.
Pretty much every single artwork seeks to present a world that can be different or other and Picture of Beauty is no exception. The painting sessions are an enabler of something greater, which serves as a reminder and possibly of reincarnation and resurrection. While posing, women are not merely passive participants to the relentless checksum opportunism of the male gaze; they are active participants of their own stories and reclaim their identity.
Conclusion
Not everyone will appreciate the film: Picture of Beauty. The movie may come across unduly dull due to the lack of energetic and lengthy dialogues, and even the sequences might feel lengthy. However, for those who are willing to experience deep self-reflection, the film posses no boundaries when offering beauty, sensuality, and freedom.
The slight production values are offset by the captivating visuals, high concepts, and reflective performances. Even though it does not earn accolades from Hollywood, it still stands out as a sincere attempt to understand the complexities of human closeness through art.
Picture of Beauty is an accomplishment in the legacy of European film, which emphasizes tone and symbolism at the expense of a traditional narrative structure. The film invites its audience to contemplate not just the characters on screen, but also the nature of beauty, freedom, and humanity.
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