Camille Claudel (1988)

An aspiring sculptress (Isabelle Adjani in an Oscar nominated performance) is taken under the wing of the renowned sculptor Auguste Rodin (Gerard Depardieu). A troubled romance ensues when she feels he is attempting to suppress her art in favor of his own. Based on the book by Reine Marie Paris and directed by cinematographer turned director Bruno Nuytten (he shot INDIA SONG, JEAN DE FLORETTE, POSSESSION among many others). This biographical drama on the admired sculptress is overlong (it runs three hours) and its use of artistic license is often dubious but a bravura performance by Isabelle Adjani overrides any concerns one may have on the movie's accuracy. 13 years earlier, Adjani had delivered another superb performance of an obsessed woman's descent into madness in Truffaut's STORY OF ADELE H (1975) but she doesn't repeat herself here. Her Camille's madness is less ironic and more intense than her Adele H. But the performances aren't competitive, they stand equally side by side. With Alain Cuny, Madeleine Robinson and Laurent Grevill.