Charlotte

“Only by doing something mad can I hope to stay sane” are words ascribed to Charlotte Salomon, the German-Jewish painter who followed in the steps of the German Expressionists, only to have her work dismissed as ​‘degenerate’ under the Nazi régime. Starring Keira Knightley as the voice of Salomon (she was also Executive Producer), the feature traces the turbulent and tragic life of the painter as she creates her most famous body of work, Life? Or Theatre?, in the months before her death.

Beginning in Berlin in 1933, the artist’s native city, Charlotte, as both a woman and a Jew, struggles to find recognition as an artist. As political tensions and antisemitism escalate – culminating in the violence of Kristallnacht in 1938 – we jump to the south of France, where in real life, Charlotte and her family found refuge in Nice. Against a backdrop of foreboding, Charlotte paints compulsively, creating a poetic autobiographical series that illustrates the turmoil of her inner world and external reality.

Made by the studio who created Loving Vincent, the film was directed by Éric Warin and Tahir Rana, who bring the tragedy of Charlotte’s life into sharp focus. Julia Rosenberg, the producer of the film originally discovered the story of Salomon aged 13, when she was gifted the book form of Life? Or Theatre? This graphic novel of sorts would preserve the legacy of Charlotte, who is now – due to her historic status – simply known by her first name in France.

In 2011, Rosenberg decided that if Salomon felt the urgency to capture her life in paint – then an animated biographical drama would be a fitting cinematic homage to her life. Indeed, the style of animation loosely imitates the work of the real artist, who typically created expressive and whimsical gouaches. Departing from realism and adhering to modern approaches to painting, she deployed vivid and often unnatural hues of colour, with strong outlines that offer a distinctive naivety. Nevertheless, Charlotte tackled heavy subjects matters – both autobiographical, historical and political – with uninhibited originality.

As the film portrays, Charlotte’s desire to paint becomes a therapeutic purging of her trauma – the complicated backstory involving her own family and mental illness – as well as a trepidation for what is to come. A general feeling of malaise, or the lurking presence of death permeates the film, at times hindering it from becoming an enjoyable watch. Yet whether a story involving the inconceivable reality of the Holocaust should ever be easy to watch is perhaps a moral question for filmmakers. In October of 1943, Charlotte would be deported to Auschwitz, where she died age 26, five months pregnant.

While the film ambitiously and compassionately articulates Charlotte’s harrowing story, the plot is hindered by the fact that the film grapples with a myriad of complex themes: romance, mental illness, the Holocaust and the life of a struggling female painter, as well as the political climate of the Second World War. Told in a literal and linear fashion, the style of animation and narrative pacing unfortunately means that the film – with exception of the final scenes – sometimes loses poignancy in its attempts to express the unfathomable tragedy of Charlotte’s life.

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