THE OPINION OF THE “WORLD” – NOT TO BE MISSED
The very close end is part of the beginning of the film which, before the credits, shows a young woman entrusting her work to a friend. More than a thousand gouaches collected under the name of ” Life ? Or theatre, which contain all his memories. “There is not much time left, I had to hurry”, she says. Indeed, Charlotte Salomon, born in Berlin in 1917, who dreamed of being a painter, died at the age of 26, murdered in the Auschwitz camp. She was four months pregnant.
It is this short existence that is told, in a long flashback, Charlotte, by Tahir Rana and Eric Warin, an animated feature whose simplicity conveys an elegance that is both aesthetic and moral. By agreeing with the universe of the artist (choice of 2D, stripped line, use of the same colors), the film seems to disappear in favor of its subject. And this, to better revive the work that is being developed before our eyes. After the beautiful novel dedicated to him by David Foenkinos (CharlotteGallimard, 2014), one could not have hoped for a more vibrant tribute to Charlotte Salomon than this animated biopic.
Tragedy in progress
The only daughter of Albert Salomon (1883-1976), surgeon and university professor, and of Franziska (who committed suicide at the age of 36 in 1926), Charlotte grew up in the German Jewish bourgeoisie with her father and his mother-in-law, Paula Lindberg (1897-2000), famous singer. Ignoring the family disagreement and despite the anti-Jewish laws which forbid her access, Charlotte manages, in 1936, to enter the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. Driven out two years later, she becomes aware of the tragedy in motion. His paint darkens, becomes covered in ink, streaked with barbed wire. The film ignites, sinks into chaos: Kristallnacht, in 1938, marks a point of no return.
Charlotte leaves for Villefranche-sur-Mer (Alpes-Maritimes), in the south of France, where her maternal grandparents, refugees, like others, are waiting for her in the vast property of a wealthy American, Ottilie Moore. For two years, obsessed with urgency, the young woman painted every moment of her life. Her gouaches reflect the light, reproduce the Mediterranean colours, immortalize her meeting with Alexander Nagler (1904-1944), whom she immediately married in 1943, draw the portrait of her relatives. Between 1940 and 1942, the young woman produced a work that would later be called the first graphic novel. Which is reborn today, in a poignant way, thanks to animation.
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