The film fictionalizes the real relationship between French sculptor Henri Gaudier and Polish writer Sophie Brzeska, twenty years his senior, who came to Paris, she says, for its “creative atmosphere.”
You get to like Henri and Sophia, maybe more than they like themselves.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
23 Oct 2004
rotten:
Russell takes the mystique away from art, but supplies nothing much in its place.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
9 May 2005
rotten:
Henri's interesting relationship with the ageing authoress Sophie Brzeska is lost in the director's overriding credo that both art and films are a matter of how much energy you exert.