Henri Matisse

Between 1950 and 1955, Henri Langlois tried to produce, on behalf of the Cinémathèque française, several films devoted to great artists, with their cooperation, by entrusting them with virgin film stock. Wrote Langlois on the unfinished project, epic in scope: "We had the idea of ​​asking poets, painters, scholars, writers and even repressed filmmakers [...] to make films in 16mm, with the means at hand, without taking into account any commercial concern or censorship." What precious little came of the project was eight minutes of film from Matisse and twenty-some from Marc Chagall, released at a later date.

From his childhood in the lowlands of northern France to his death in Nice, a look at the life of painter Matisse: his early education, his apprenticeship at the Beaux-Arts and his decades-long career as a painter, sculptor, and draftsman.

As the title of this French documentary indicates, Ce Siecle a 50 Ans examines the 20th Century at its halfway point. Utilizing the archives of several European film reserves, director Denise Tua offers a fascinating mosaic of the people and events that shaped the years 1900 to 1950. Complementing the vintage film clips are three dramatized sketches, delineating the romantic customs of three different points in time. These sketches are inadequately performed, and can easily be ignored. Ce Siecle a 50 Ans both preserved and provided celluloid material for scores of future documentaries.

Documentary film about artist Henri Matisse

Le peintre Henri Matisse, sujet d'une nouvelle exposition à la Fondation Louis Vuitton à Paris - a puisé dans la lumière éclatante des pays du Sud la source de sa recherche artistique. De fabuleux voyages, entre Belle-Île-en-Mer et Ajaccio, Tanger et l’Espagne, les atolls polynésiens et Nice, région où il vivra jusqu’à sa mort en 1954.

Au moyen d'illustrations, d'images animées et d'archives de l'époque, le film retrace les hauts et les bas, les scandales et célébrations, les tragédies et triomphes ayant façonné cette période inouïe de l'art moderne depuis le sous-sol du Bateau-Lavoir en 1900 jusqu'aux derniers frémissements de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.