This seems to be one of the longest movies I've seen in years. But where some long movies have complex stories and plot lines, this film has a very simple story, that could comfortably be told in half the time. The fact that there is very little dialogue in the film doesn't exactly help the flow either.
So the film has a slow pace, and that's obviously by choice. I guess the director wants us to enjoy the beautifully lit scenes, the slightly overacting faces in close-up and the meritorious artwork. Maybe he wanted the film to have a pace fitting to the period the story takes place, and thus drag the audience into it. For me it didn't really work. The ideas maybe fine, but the elaboration just isn't powerful enough to account for the time spent. It didn't help that both the story and it's portrayal are loaded with platitudes and stereotypes. I guess this is also by choice, for the story could be seen as kind of a fairytale, but again: for me it didn't really work.
If you're a hopeless romantic or in need of some serious cooling down you might enjoy this film, but I could imagine nicer ways to spend all this time.
So the film has a slow pace, and that's obviously by choice. I guess the director wants us to enjoy the beautifully lit scenes, the slightly overacting faces in close-up and the meritorious artwork. Maybe he wanted the film to have a pace fitting to the period the story takes place, and thus drag the audience into it. For me it didn't really work. The ideas maybe fine, but the elaboration just isn't powerful enough to account for the time spent. It didn't help that both the story and it's portrayal are loaded with platitudes and stereotypes. I guess this is also by choice, for the story could be seen as kind of a fairytale, but again: for me it didn't really work.
If you're a hopeless romantic or in need of some serious cooling down you might enjoy this film, but I could imagine nicer ways to spend all this time.