Product Details

• Actors: Valentina Cervi, Michel Serrault, Miki Manojlovic, Luca Zingaretti, Emmanuelle Devos
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Miramax
• DVD Release Date: December 18, 2001
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005R87F
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,551 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Artemisia" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

This controversial and confused new film, written and directed by Agnès Merlet, is ostensibly about the seventeenth-century painter Artemisia Gentileschi, but it is really the silliest form of late-twentieth-century iconography. The movie, which stars the fetching Valentina Cervi, makes a sexy love story out of Artemisia's relationship with her teacher, Agostino Tassi (played by Miki Manojlovic): it's art lessons as foreplay. "Let yourself go," Tassi tells his young pupil, as though he is quoting from Masters and Johnson, and Artemisia not only expertly guides him in bed but insists that he gave her pleasure when he raped her. Although the real Artemisia did flout the conventions of her time by insisting on painting from live models, it's hard to believe that she proceeded with the air of defiant entitlement she's given here. Once you accept the film on its own fraudulent terms, however, it's quite engaging-not least because of the erotic subtext. In French. -Daphne Merkin
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Product Description

ARTEMISIA - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not the true story..., January 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Artemisia [VHS] (VHS Tape)

When this movie was first released, due to the outcry from the feminist and art history communities, Miramax had to remove their claim that it was "the true story of the first female painter in art history." Actually, it is practically a complete inversion of Artemisia Gentileschi's real story...she was in fact raped by Tassi (the 'love interest' in the movie) and maintained her stand *against* him even under torture (as is documented in the records of the trial). The film romanticizes and sexualizes her and their relationship to an almost soft-porn level while giving hardly any screen time to her actual work and using her paintings out of context...which is a shame, because the real story of this remarkable woman would have been just as dramatic if not more so.

57 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Politically incorrect, and thought provoking, September 5, 2001

By 

Susan E. Wood "Susan" (Rochester, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Artemisia [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This film is a must-see for feminists and art historians although (or perhaps precisely BECAUSE) it may make you angry. It is a beautiful, intensely sympathetic study of the young Artemisia Gentileschi, her struggles to learn and grow as an artist in a society that makes it very difficult for her to do so, and her relationships with the men in her life. Artemisia has no desire to be the feminist role model that she later became (how could she? The word and concept of "feminism" didn't exist in her day), she just needed to paint. The part of this movie that infuriated feminists is its portrayal of her relationship with her much older and very disreputable teacher Tassi as consensual, rather than as a violent rape, followed by a relationship in which Artemisia reluctantly cooperated because he had promised her marriage.

According to modern definitions, of course, Tassi was guilty of some form of rape, whether Artemisia said "yes" or "no," because she was only 17 at the oldest, and he took advantage of his position of power. But there may be some truth in the movie's version of their relationship; Artemisia wouldn't be the first or the last young woman to have a crush on an older teacher, and to try out her powers of sexual attraction without fully understanding the consequences. It's true that the movie probably whitewashes Tassi's character in order to portray his relationship with Artemisia as a love story. In the actual trial transcript, Artemisia mocked him bitterly when they applied the thumb-screws to her hands during testimony, saying, "This is the wedding ring you promised me!" If she had ever felt any affection for him, it was gone by then. But if you allow the film some leeway for artistic license, it presents a fascinating study of how even a seemingly devastating experience like the rape trial and scandal could be part of an artist's growth. Artemisia's later career was not that of a poor, wronged victim; she went on to become a very successful painter.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Historical accuracy set aside for theatrical drama, August 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Artemisia [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you are looking for a seventeenth-century period piece (full stop), this movie will satisfy your wishes. However, if you're looking for an accurate biography of "one of the first great women artists" (which is NOT necessarily the case--there were other notable female artists prior to this Baroque painter), DO NOT rely on this movie. Most frustrating is the portrayal of Gentileschi as a nearly mute pubescent girl in a constant state of sexual awakening (the rather steamy beach scene near the beginning of the movie is almost unbearable). Gentileschi's near silent portrayal is equally upsetting during the tumultuous events at the end of movie. While this reviewer does not want to give the plot away (although any recent art history book on Baroque painting can fill you in on the ups and downs of her life and career), Artemisia's silent demeanor was, according to historical records, NOT the actual situation (in other words, she did speak up for herself!). Interest in Gentileschi has peaked during the past few decades, with the rising interest in women's issues/feminist topics/etc. However, I am not sure whether this movie will help or hinder the average movie goer's understanding of this seventeenth-century artist. Keep this in mind, viewers!