by Shane Conto
Don’t you just love movies about the world of art? There have been plenty of classic films that really capture the “insider baseball” of the creative process. Many of them focus specifically about the film industry (who doesn’t love creating works based on their own experiences). Others focus on the other forms of art out there. You have a great artist who is definitely not the perfect person, but commits to their work and makes the lives of the loved ones even harder. A great turn on that story of the artist is the story not so often told. That story is the story of those who are in love with the artist. Will they ever get the appropriate attention compared to the profession that their loved ones have committed themselves too? Those can be quite tragic.
That is the story set in motion in Tom Dolby’s The Artist’s Wife.
Dolby ventures out on his own as a director with this film and he provides a classy and emotional look at the suffering partner story. But that doesn’t sound so interesting does it? It sure doesn’t sound very original. But what if that partner steps out of the shadow and learns to live her own life? Does that catch your attention a little more? The Artist’s Wife goes all in on the story of Claire Smythson who is the wife of acclaimed artist and professor Richard Smythson.
When you watch a film about art, you hope that the film can achieve the same kind of beauty and artfulness as what is created by its subject.
The film is shot in a classic kind of way, as the audience feels like it is looking into an old Hollywood drama. This is not the kind of film with a driving plot or exciting twists and Dolby knows that. He takes his time with the pacing as the film lays the groundwork for each character and allows the audience to really connect. The film balances some strong themes around the commentary of art, relationships, and illness. The film feels earnest and emotional, but lucky it doesn’t hit too far into melodrama.
Where Dolby delivers a strong outing behind the camera with his steady hand as a director, the script that he co wrote for the film is much more hit or miss. One of the most challenging things to do with a screenplay is to truly surprise the audience. At this point, so many film fans have basically seen everything. The Artist’s Wife definitely doesn’t shoot to surprise you with a complex or particularly original story. You most likely have seen a film similar to this before.
By delivering a strong central character and a range of different people and situations to challenge them, Dolby is able to make an otherwise familiar plot standout.
Claire is a woman who had her own aspirations to be an artist. Now she finds herself on the wrong side of 60 with her decades older husband as he spirals into a battle with dementia. Is she going to be satisfied with the situation she finds herself in? The audience gets to join Claire on a journey of self-discovery and rebuilding relationships (some her own and some for her husband). These interactions are poignant and deliver on an emotional level. How things play out may not be the most interesting and shocking, but you enjoy it enough to go for the ride. The film is challenging as it looks at the harsh reality of seeing a loved one slowly losing themselves to a horrible disease (unfortunately one I have experienced in my own life).
What really sells the film are the strong performances across the board. Lena Olin delivers a raw, emotional, and moving performance as she ranges from vulnerability in fearing where her life will go and confidence as she goes for certain aspects of happiness laid out in front of her. Bruce Dern delivers a strong and darkly humorous performance as a man slowly losing his memory and control.
The real treat is when Olin and Dern share the screen.
The relationship felt so real. The contempt at times and the poignant love for one another deliver the goods. You can understand so well what Claire is going through due to the raw performance that Olin gives through her physical acting and the words she says. A supporting cast led by Juliet Rylance and Avan Jogia fill out the ensemble for this classy drama. When all is said and done, is The Artist’s Wife really worth you time and effort? If you are in the mood for a good old fashion drama with a modern and empowering narrative for a character that could have easily been a long-suffering partner stereotype, this one’s for you.
Grade: B-