Yes Dan Stevens, Dominic Cooper and the actress who played Elinor from Sense & Sensibility (BBC 2008) were all cast in this movie about the artist A.J. Munnings who lived in a bohemian art colony in Cornwall in 1913.I was not aware that this artist later became president of the Royal Acadamy.My wife & some of her friends went to the R.A. recently and saw "Lady on a Horse" the celebrated painting of Munnings wife who later committed suicide.They returned from this trip to one of the friend's house and saw the DVD of "Summer in February".Knowing I am a keen amateur artist my wife generously bought me a copy of the DVD (together with a R.A. brochure of his work) so I could see for myself which I did today.
Criticism? I would have liked to have seen more of Munning's paintings and less of his character spouting poetry and his negative personal character traits.We also did not learn enough about his art technique.I agree Cornwall provides an artistic backdrop having visited the county myself several times e.g. St Ives.I was never convinced I was seeing anything but a bunch of actors pretending to paint.I would like to have seen a professional artist painting e.g. convicted fraudster John Mynott who has the ability to paint in the style of the masters with suitable certified paintings after spending a year in prison - see his "Confessions of an Art Forger" videos on www.youtube.com. which are instructive.Film producers dub on professional musicians when doing biopics of famous historical figures and likewise get professional painters to ape famous artists' work.Mediocre I gave it 6/10.
Criticism? I would have liked to have seen more of Munning's paintings and less of his character spouting poetry and his negative personal character traits.We also did not learn enough about his art technique.I agree Cornwall provides an artistic backdrop having visited the county myself several times e.g. St Ives.I was never convinced I was seeing anything but a bunch of actors pretending to paint.I would like to have seen a professional artist painting e.g. convicted fraudster John Mynott who has the ability to paint in the style of the masters with suitable certified paintings after spending a year in prison - see his "Confessions of an Art Forger" videos on www.youtube.com. which are instructive.Film producers dub on professional musicians when doing biopics of famous historical figures and likewise get professional painters to ape famous artists' work.Mediocre I gave it 6/10.