Artemisia: The Movie
Released May 8, 1998. Directed by Agnes Merlet.
Starring: Valentina Cervi, Miki Manojlovic Michael Serrault
Written by Agnes Merlet and Patrick Amos.
Produced by Patrice Haddad. Distributed by Miramax.
If you did not know the true story of Artemisia, you might be impressed by this well-acted, well-directed portrayal of an independent, erotic and determined female Renaissance painter who falls in love with her art teacher, and ardently defends him when he is accused of rape. But once you learn about the real Artemisia, you may begin to question the ethics of Merlet, the director- screenwriter. Understandably, both movie reviewers and feminists have been critical of the film's distortion of historical truth.
Many historical films are not true to history, and viewers accept the fictionalizations. But because here the fictionalizing is a whitewashing of rape, it is more difficult to accept. Despite its success and tasteful eroticism, Artemisia the movie proves to be still another the violation of the feminine. Artemisia was raped originally by her male art teacher, Tassi. Unfortunately, now she has been raped again in this film - by its twentieth century female director.
What are the historical inaccuracies?
(WARNING: Spoilers ahead)
Artemisia did not paint nude men, nor show off her drawings of nude males in order to entice Tassi to teach her. Nor is it likely that she was obsessed with male genitals, as the movie appears to indicate. Although we admittedly do not know the whole truth of the matter, historical documents and the rape trial transcripts do not lead us to believe that she was as seductive with Tassi as the film portrayed, or inclined to continually return for "more."
The real Tassi was not handsome, nor was he a devoted lover; he was a philanderer who had been jailed for sexual crimes, and was known to have committed incest and raped his sister-in-law; many also believed at the time (although it was not proven) that he had murdered his wife.
During the trial, Artemisia did not repeatedly declare her love for Tassi or deny that she had been raped; she quite vigorously described the rape. When she was tortured, she did not insistently defend his innocence; rather she asserted his guilt. The real Tassi did not defend Artemisia; instead he portrayed her, her mother and sisters as whores. He did not admit his guilt in order to stop her from being tortured; he continued to defend his own innocence and condemn her.
In reality, Tassi was a minor painter who briefly taught Artemisia perspective, and not her equal or long-term mentor. The real Artemisia was the most talented and successful woman artist of the Renaissance and baroque era, known especially for her famous Judith Slaying Holofernes paintings. In the film, this painting and alleged drawings by her of male nudes are presented at the trial as evidence of her degenerate nature, but no explanation is given of how or why she chose such a violent subject. In reality, however, Artemisia completed her first Judith painting the year after the trial - most likely choosing such a violent theme in order to express her own anger at the series of injustices that she had experienced.
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发表于 2006-4-22 17:32
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