Gauguin – Voyage de Tahiti is a historical and biographical drama which premiered in 2017.
The topic is the life and career of the famous French artist Paul Gauguin.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Director: Edouard Deluc
** Writers: Edouard Deluc, Thomas Lilty, Etienne Comar & Sarah Kaminsky
** Language: French and Polynesian
** Subtitles: English
** Released on DVD in 2018
** Available via Amazon Prime Video
** Run time: 100 minutes
The cast includes the following:
** Vincent Cassel as Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)
** Tuhei Adams as Tehamana aka Tehura (1878-1918) – Paul’s wife in French Polynesia (1891-1893)
** Malik Zidi as Henri Vallin – a French doctor in French Polynesia
** Pua Tai Hikutini as Jotepha – a young man in French Polynesia
** Pernille Bergendorff as Mette-Sofie Gauguin (1850-1920) – Paul’s wife in Europe – Paul and Mette were married in 1873 – together they had five children
Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. This is why I feel free to mention some of them here.
While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here, but the basic story is true.
As stated above, this film is about the life and career of Paul Gauguin, but it does not cover his whole life from the beginning in 1848 to the end in 1903.
It covers a brief but very significant part of his life: his first journey to Tahiti in French Polynesia which lasted for two years (1891-1893).
In this drama, we follow him in French Polynesia. He paints some paintings and makes some sculptures. We also meet some of the people around him:
The French doctor Henri Vallin, who becomes a friend, and Tehura, his Polynesian wife. After two years in Tahiti, he returns to France.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
Here are some results:
36 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
41 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
60 percent = IMDb
On Amazon there are at the moment more than 180 ratings of this product, more than 30 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.1 stars which corresponds to a rating of 82 percent.
If you ask me, all these ratings are too high. Why do I say this? Because this drama has flaws; many flaws; and some of them are quite serious. Let me explain:
# 1. While this drama is a biopic of Gauguin, it does not cover his whole life from the beginning to the end. It covers only two years of a life which lasted for more than 50 years.
Neither the first forty years of his life nor the last ten years of his life are covered in this drama. What we have here is a very small part - in fact less than four per cent - of his life.
# 2. Since this drama covers only two years of Gauguin’s life, I was hoping that the movie-makers would make sure that they would get everything about those two years right. Unfortunately, they did not. There are several flaws. Important and relevant information is excluded. The story that we have is often misleading and sometimes completely false.
The story begins in Paris – the capital of France – in 1891. Paul Gauguin is an artist, but according to him, there is nothing to do in this place. There is no inspiration.
He wants to go to Tahiti in French Polynesia. He hopes to start a new chapter of his life there. He hopes to find inspiration for his work as an artist there.
How did he get this idea that he wants to go to Tahiti? Where did it come from? This question is never raised in this drama and therefore never answered. Several factors can explain how he got this idea:
(A) Gauguin was born in France, but as a child (until the age of 6) he lived in Peru. He has experienced life in a Third World country.
(B) As a young man he joined the French navy. For two years he sailed all over the world. He has experience as a sailor.
(C) In 1887 he visited Panama and spent several months on Martinique, an island in the Caribbean Sea. During this voyage he worked as an artist.
(D) He read the book Le marriage de Loti written by the French author Pierre Loti (which was published in 1880).
In this book, a French man travels to French Polynesia where he marries a local girl who is only 14 years old.
These factors could explain why he decided to go to Tahiti. To start a new life. To find inspiration. But none of them is mentioned in this drama.
# 3. In 1891, a voyage from France to French Polynesia was not only expensive; it was also long and difficult and sometimes even dangerous.
How did Gauguin finance this voyage? This issue is never discussed in this drama. The answer: he held an auction where he sold his belongings in order to finance the voyage.
When the auction did not raise enough money, he contacted his friends and asked them for financial support. Some of them were prepared to help him.
This is how the voyage was financed.
But this is not mentioned in the drama!
# 4. What about the voyage itself? How was it? Which route did the ship take? Did anything special happen on the way? There is no information in this drama.
Why not?
In one moment, he is in Paris. In the next moment, he is in Tahiti. Standing in a primitive hut while working on a painting. Outside it is raining.
All of a sudden,
he is in Tahiti! How did this happen? In this drama, there is no information to explain how this happened.
# 5. The Gauguin we see in Tahiti is not looking for female company. Apparently, art is all he cares about. But this impression is quite misleading.
# 6. One day, when he is travelling, he meets some local people. They ask him if he is looking for a wife. If he is, they have a suggestion for him: they offer him a young woman. “Do you want her?” He says OK. They ask her: “Do you want him?” She says OK. This is how he meets and marries Tehura who becomes his wife in Tahiti.
Technically and legally, Gauguin is still married to the Danish woman Mette-Sofie, with whom he has five children, but in this drama, he does not talk about her, even though we can see that they are still in contact: he receives a letter from her while he is in Tahiti.
He is more than 40. How old is Tehura? She is younger than him. How young is she? Thirteen! But this fact is never mentioned in the drama.
The movie-makers do not reveal this detail, even though it is highly relevant and should be mentioned.
Tuhei Adams, who plays Tehura, was 17 when the movie was made.
# 7. At first, Gauguin and Tehura have a harmonious marriage. She tells him about the old religion, the mythology of Polynesia.
This idea is borrowed from Gauguin’s account Noa Noa which was published much later, during hiss second voyage to Tahiti, but this idea is false.
By 1891, the old anecdotes had been largely forgotten in Tahiti and while they were still remembered, they were always withheld from women.
In his later account Noa Noa, Gauguin borrowed the old anecdotes from some other sources, which are not acknowledged.
A 13-year-old girl like Tehura could not have known the old anecdotes and she could not tell Gauguin about them.
The movie-makers took some information which was discovered during his second journey and made this information a part of his first journey.
# 8. After a while, Gauguin and Tehura’s marriage becomes less harmonious. There is a love triangle which involves Gauguin, Tehura and a young Polynesian man Jotepha.
This love triangle is a fabrication for which there is no evidence. Why was this element introduced?
The movie-makers probably did it for dramatic reasons. But by doing this, they deliberately violated historical truth.
# 9. When Gauguin is in Tahiti, he is in a French colony. It is known as “French” Polynesia, because the French government decided to take control of this part of the world.
What does Gauguin think about French colonialism?
This issue is never explored in this drama.
Why not?
# 10. In 1893, Gauguin returns to France. When he is standing on the quay, it is time to say goodbye. The French doctor is there. Gauguin and the doctor hug each other. But Tehura is not there, because the marriage has broken up.
In the drama, she has left Gauguin to be with Jotepha. But this is not true. In the real world, she was there to say goodbye to him.
# 11. An on-screen message placed at the end of the movie tells us that he never saw Tehura again. This is not true.
While Gauguin was in France, Tehura married another man.
In 1895, when Gauguin returned to Tahiti, they met again and she stayed with him but only for one week. She did not want to be his wife again.
From the beginning to the end, this drama is flawed. Important and relevant information is excluded. And the story presented is often misleading and sometimes completely false.
Looking at the long list of flaws, I must say:
What a shame!
I must ask:
How could the movie-makers violate historical truth so many times and in so many ways?
This movie is not great; it is not good; it is not even average. It is fatally flawed. A deep disappointment.
I understand the low ratings offered by Rotten Tomatoes. Not only by the professional critics but also by the general audience.
In my opinion, this product deserves a rating of one star (20 percent).
PS. Rodin is a historical
drama about the life and career of the famous French artist Auguste Rodin
(1840-1917). Unfortunately, this drama which premiered in 2017 is a deep
disappointment.
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
Gauguin in the South Seas
by Bengt Danielsson
(1965)
Gauguin, an Erotic Life
by Nancy M. Matthews
(2001)
# 2. Items available online
** David Bowman, “Paul Gauguin’s erotic life,” The Salon, 2 August 2002 (an interview with Nancy M. Matthews)
** Lara Marlowe, “Myth-making in the south Pacific,” Irish Times, 6 December 2003
** Alistair Smart, “Is it wrong to admire Paul Gauguin’s art?” The Telegraph, 19 September 2010
** Adrian Searle, “Paul Gauguin: guilty as charged,” The Guardian, 27 September 2010
** Graham Fuller, “The Paul Gauguin Biopic That Should Have Been More Troubling,” Culture Trip, 5 July 2018
# 3. Film and video
Gauguin à Tahiti et Marquises
Director = Richard Dindo
Run time = 65 minutes
Language = French
(2010)
This film is available on YouTube. Unfortunately, subtitles are not available for this item.
Gauguin: A Dangerous Life
Director = Patricia Wheatley
Run time = 61 minutes
Language = English (and French)
(2019)
This film is available on Tubi-tv with English subtitles
*****
Gauguin -
Voyage to Tahiti
A historical drama which premiered
in 2017
*****
The famous French artist
Paul Gauguin
(1848-1903)
*****
Paul Gauguin
A self portrait
painted in 1894
while he was in France
*****
Tehura
(1878-1918)
Painted by Gauguin in 1893
during his first visit to Tahiti
(1891-1893)
*****
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