I, Claude Monet

Monet is one of those artists who you just seem to have known all your life. His name is so familiar. Most people interested in art – and I’d argue that should be everyone! – know that his painting ‘Impression, Sunrise’ gave name, almost accidentally, to the most famous artistic movement in history – the impressionists. But sometimes I like to stop and ask myself: what do I really know about him? I remember doing this with Mozart and then, over a three-year production period, discovering someone very far removed from Tom Hulce’s wonderful (and woefully inaccurate) portrayal in Amadeus. Thus it was that when we were in production for another film ‘Painting the Modern Garden – Monet to Matisse’ I decided it was time to look a bit closer at Monsieur Claude Oscar Monet. I have always argued that, as a director, the first step should be to read your subject’s correspondence. Mozart, Matisse, Muhammad Ali – whoever it is – I always want to read their own words first. If I think we then need to also hear from experts and to have a written narrative as well then so be it - but start with the correspondence. One naturally has to be a little cautious: not every letter can be taken at face value, many have disappeared thus leaving gaps. However, who has done the transcriptions and translations – what might they have missed or indeed added? How would you or I be portrayed if someone only used our letters (and, these days, our emails and texts) to reflect our lives? Well, that was the challenge I took on with Monet. Very quickly it became clear that, in an effort to provide a fresh look at a much-loved name, I needed to use only his own words - from 3300 letters - and see who emerged. Would we encounter a more rounded, more nuanced, more comprehensible individual than the slightly caricatured bushy-bearded old man of Giverny? My answer is a definite yes.