In 1915, venerable Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir is nearing the end of his life, and his second son, Jean, who would go on to become the director of beloved films such as Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game, is home on medical leave from the front of the First World War. Both, in their own way, fall under the spell of a beautiful and vivacious country girl who models for the father and flirts with the brooding son.

This is the dynamic at the heart of Renoir, a slow-paced, but beautiful and involving period drama which functions at once as a dual portrait of major artists (one fading, one emerging) and as a charming, often melancholy love story. Emphasis on beautiful because this could very well be the most gorgeous visual experience of 2013. It is a must-see for its aesthetic delights alone, from the awe-inspiring, bright locations (on the Cote d’Azur) to the authentic costumes and sets to the general air of elegance and sensuality infused into every frame, many of which could be paintings by the senior Renoir come to life. A host of credible, understated performances also draw the viewer in, particularly the fresh-faced Christa Théret as Andrée, the free-spirited muse who would act in Jean's early films under the name of Catherine Hessling.

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