Paul Gauguin

Gauguin Wasn't Just Tahiti

Incredible. And bear in mind he was a rebel without a crew. Paul Gauguin was, despite such, the Paul Gégauff of his time.

Paul Gauguin [1949] uses a framework similar to Van Gogh, but what happens here is that Resnais becomes consumed, rightfully, by the shock of Gauguin’s paintings’ details. His image of Christ on the cross is a lightning bolt.

Resnais’s Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin are only surpassed by Godard, and by the Straubs’ A Visit to the Louvre.

The painter shorts by Resnais are obviously the work of a man who loved the “bande-dessinée"; these are panels, not just frames. Especially the part in Paul Gauguin where he focuses on the abstract shapes and patterns. Parental guidance is not suggested. •

===