ARTEMISIA

• Starring Valentina Cervi and Michel Serrault
• Directed by Agnes Merlet
• Rated R, with nudity and sexual content; running time 96 minutes
• With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a 7

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(June 19, 1998) -- Artemisia has a problem. She's the talented, 17-year-old daughter of Florentine painter Orazio Gentileschi, and she wants to paint.

But as Agnes Merlet's intriguing film Artemisia shows, the 17th century is a repressive time for women.

They are not permitted to study art. Nor can they observe and paint from nudes. It is the rule of the land, guided by the Roman Catholic Church.

As another recent film, Dangerous Beauty (1998), also demonstrated, Italian women of this period could become either housewives, courtesans or nuns. Artemisia's response is to live as boldly as she paints. With the support of her father, she defies society.

The film focuses on her emergence as a controversial artist -- and on her relationship with a well-known older painter named Agostino, known as Tassi.

From him, Artemisia discovers the freedom of painting landscapes in the real world, and learns new techniques of perspective. But she and Tassi also fall into a torrid romance.

It's a perfect opportunity for the church to kill two birds with one stone. Tassi is charged with rape; Artemisia is tortured to make her portray herself as a victim.

What's really on trial is Artemisia's right to artistic and sexual expression.

Valentina Cervi, who stars as Artemisia, nicely conveys her conviction and curiosity. The motives of her mentor Tassi, as played by Miki Manojlovic, are less clear.

Another "character" is a painting, one of the artist's most famous: Judith Beheading Holofernes.

In the biblical scene, two women stand over a bearded, defeated Holofernes, general of the Assyrians. One holds a sword at his neck; the other holds him down in his bed.

The picture's combination of passion and violence inspired Merlet to make Artemisia. The film sheds light on both the woman and the period, though I would have liked to see more of the artist's work, and more of the artist creating it.

Nor does the film match the passion and sensuality of its subject. Artemisia is most illuminating as a portrait of restrictive, unjust sexual politics.

The Renaissance led only the men of Europe into the light. Women remained in the Dark Ages.