Words and Pictures (2013)

Searching, in all aspects of their lives, for those with "fire in the belly" and expressions and lives that are meaningful, Dina (Juliette Binoche) and Jack (Clive Owen) do not suffer fools gladly. Dina, also known as the "Icicle," is the new art teacher rumored to have caned a student in New York. She is struggling, physically and mentally, to overcome a disability as well as the loss of a spouse. Jack, irascible and usually drunk, is an English teacher with his job, family and life on the line due to his drinking and drought in the publishing department. The two loose cannons, headstrong and determined in their ways, are entwined in a jovial workplace argument over the primacy of words and pictures. Both Dina and Jack struggle to reawaken desire and hope in themselves as well as their students. They have each other to look to, for better and worse. Binoche and Owen are, of course, wonderful and charming in their roles. Their romance has chemistry. It is a worthwhile film just to see how Binoche transitions from Paris to rural Maine (and she does so deftly and with panache). Weighed down a bit by awkward student actor performances, the words and pictures battle is never the less intriguing, and the film as a whole is absorbing and delightful. Seen at the 2014 Miami International Film Festival.

Fmovies: Gerald Di Pego's script for WORDS AND PICTURES deserves to be published as a book, so sensitive are his musings about art and literature. This film is filled with some unforgettable thoughts that should challenge teachers of writing and art and their students as well.

Fred Schepisi directs this lovely little film with restraint and sensitivity, allowing the brilliance of the performances by Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen to shine. Though the school kids are a bit cookie cutter and thwart the momentum of the film at times, the overall response is one of pure pleasure in the drive of the story.

A flamboyant English teacher Jack Marcus (Clive Owen) and a new, stoic art teacher Dina Delsanto (Juliette Binoche) collide at an upscale prep school in Maine. A high-spirited courtship begins and she finds herself enjoying the battle. Another battle they begin has the students trying to prove which is more powerful, the word or the picture. But the true war is against their own demons, as two troubled souls struggle for connection – Jack is a chronic alcoholic who has distanced his son and Dina is an artist hampered by the insidious progression of her Rheumatoid Arthritis. The banter of battle is one of words in a game that is fascinating to all: the tenderness of their mutual needs sculpts the poetry of the script. Superb acting, excellent script, Oscar deserving recognition for many concerned in this refreshingly nuanced film. See it and memorize it.

Words and Pictures (2013) was directed by Fred Schepisi. It stars Juliette Binoche as Dina Delsanto, a brilliant painter who is suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Clive Owen portrays Jack Marcus, a published poet who is suffering from alcoholism. Of course they meet, engage in intellectual battles, are attracted to each, and have a horrendous rending of their relationship.

All of this action takes place at a private school in New England, with subplots involving cyber bullying, the real possibility of Jack being fired from his job, Jack's relationship with his son, and both teachers' interactions with their students.

The film is predictable and formulaic, but it still worked for me because of the brilliant acting of Juliette Binoche. We've seen painters at work in other films, but in this movie, there's a real artist at work. (Binoche is, herself, an artist, and the art she's making in the film is her own art.) Most important to me is that we get to see the serious effects of rheumatoid arthritis on someone's life. Most sick people are portrayed in movies as either at death's door, or just mildly impaired. (If they have rheumatoid arthritis, they use a cane and limp a little.) Not so in this film--Binoche has a serious handicapping condition, and it's interfering with her life and her art.

This movie will work better on the large screen, mainly because the art will be more impressive if seen in a theater. Even so, it will work well enough on the small screen. It's worth seeing, Not a great film, but an intelligent and enjoyable one.

Words and Pictures fmovies. "A picture is worth a thousand words." Jack Marcus (Owen) is an English teacher that has a slight alcohol problem and is in danger of losing his job. The school hires Dina Delsanto (Binoche) a famous artist that has her own struggles she is dealing with to teach art. What starts off as a harmless comment about words being lies soon becomes a war between words and pictures. The teachers drag their students into the battle which end up helping everyone involved. This is a perfect example of don't judge a book (or in this case movie) by its cover. Going in I was expecting a cheesy romantic comedy that has been done over and over. While this did have the romance aspect this dealt much more with education. Clive Owen plays a teacher that the kids love but the administration hates. He does things his own way and actually gets through to the kids. Binoche's character is angry at having to teach but still makes a connection with the students. The movie is a back and forth argument over which has more power words or pictures with great arguments for both sides. This movie has the type of educational influence that movies along the lines of Dead Poet's Society or Mr. Holland's Opus has. This is a huge surprise of a movie that I just can not say enough about. One of the better movies of the year and I highly recommend this. Overall, if you like inspirational movies about education then check this out. I loved it. I give this an A-.

I almost opted out of seeing Words and Pictures but I'm very happy that I saw it. The movie is about a high school English teacher who was once an acclaimed publisher but lost his creativity because he thinks it's not appreciated by his students and drowns his sorrows in alcohol. He is played by Clive Owen who performed brilliantly. He intersects with a new world renowned Art teacher played by Juliette Binoche who is struggling to maintain her ability to create due to a debilitating medical condition which physically prevented her from painting with fine strokes. Juliette Binoche transforms amazingly and performs well. I didn't even recognize her as the actress that played Vianne in Chocolat which I loved her in and Hana the nurse in The English Patient. In their dual over their passions of words and pictures, they end up challenging each other and their students and movie goers alike to appreciate and desire to create beauty using words and art. After watching Belle and a slew of other movies set around Victorian Era England, I noted that our conversational language has become so simple when there are so many beautiful words available to us. This movie echoes that sentiment. I expected Words and Pictures to be an overly artsy romantic love story but it was balanced. There are two things I didn't like about this movie. The first is that we aren't given the back story of the main characters. The characters even acknowledge they don't know a lot about each other but they are satisfied with it and I guess movie goers were supposed to be OK with it as well. The second is that besides reciting other people's words, Clive Owen's character doesn't say much of his own words that conveys his whole premise about words. I kept waiting for this great prose from him, but never got it. Overall the movie is entertaining and inspiring and I recommend you go see it.

It's a rare film that manages to be tedious and fascinating at the same time, but that's precisely what happens with the clumsily-named and executed Words And Pictures. The film's central conceit is right there in its title: a battle for supremacy unfolds between an English teacher (words) and his new colleague, who schools students in the fine arts (pictures). It shouldn't work at all, especially when the relationship moves predictably into romantic territory. But it's tough to completely dismiss the film when its awkward screenplay also features two intriguing central characters, played with subtle, almost miraculous depth by Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche.

English teacher Jack Marcus (Owen) is on the brink of academic implosion: his job is on the line, he's barely making it to his classes on time, and he's drinking a little too much for anyone's comfort. But, just as things are looking really bleak, his downward trajectory is briefly interrupted by the arrival of Dina Delsanto (Binoche), a revered artist who's losing her ability to make art as her body is increasingly ravaged by the aches and pains of rheumatoid arthritis. She values imagery and art; he treasures words and literature - their clash fires up their students' imaginations, even as they bicker and spar their way into an evident mutual attraction.

There's no denying that the film rests on an awkward foundation: the script keeps returning to the ridiculous dichotomy it establishes between words and pictures, pitting Marcus against Delsanto in a competition that makes very little sense. It's all tied up with a subplot involving shy arts student Emily (Valerie Tian), whose ability to come out of her shell to be the artist she can be is all wrapped up with issues of sexual harassment and public humiliation. Frankly, it's just not very good.

What is very good about the film is its two central characters, and the spiky, difficult and joyfully equal relationship that springs up between them. There's so much depth, sadness and maturity layered into Marcus and Delsanto that it's absolutely fascinating just to watch them in action, together and apart. Both characters have rough edges that aren't sanded away, and the odd fireworks between them work precisely because both their lives have stalled: Marcus is a charming mess who lost himself somewhere along the way; Delsanto is a brilliant artist who can no longer express herself the way she wants to. Somehow, they wind up inspiring each other to do better and be better - and, instead of feeling horribly mawkish, it works.

That's due in no small part to the excellent work done by the two lead actors. Owen sinks thoroughly into the part of Marcus, dialling up the charm and the horror of his character in equal measure. The film doesn't soften or romanticise Marcus and his problems, which gives Owen plenty of great character stuff to do. Binoche, too, has ample room to uncover the sad, yearning soul of a whip-smart, independent woman whose illness has stolen not just her art but also a little of her dignity.

Ultimately, the fantastic and fascinating interplay between the two actors and characters are pretty much worth the price of admission. They're surrounded by an odd, awkward beast of a movie, built on a very shaky foundation. But their brave, deep performances and bittersweet chemistry come very close to making Words And Pictures worth a lot more than it really is.