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6 Films About Painters

Cinema is an art form in itself. Regardless of the subject, all films are judged by its mastery of cinematography, the creativity and genius of the director and screenwriters, and the skill and believability of the actors.

One need not forget that they are in fact watching a film, a representation of some subject. It’s like staring into a moving painting, as entire experience of sight, sound and imagination. Andy Warhol used to purposely put little mistakes and blips into his screen shots to remind the viewers that they are not actually seeing a situation as you would looking out your window, but rather you are experiencing a movie of one.

The never ending quest for knowledge takes us through books, articles, lectures, blogs, and so forth to teach us about any particular subject. It can also give us movies on our subject and this, of course, is the most exciting way of learning. Movies about art and art history can be found all over and there are plenty of good ones. Here I have a short list of some of the movies about painters, most of which I’ve seen. And of course, you can’t get away without having to put up with some of my opinions on them.

1. Basquait ***

This movie is great and filled with an all-star cast including David Bowie (as Warhol), and Dennis Hopper (as dealer Bruno Bishofberger), with parts played by Benicio del Toro and Gary Oldman, and cameo appearances by Christopher Walken and Courtney Love. Jeffrey Wright plays the New York “graffiti”-style artist Jean Michel Basquiat, and although he doesn’t look exactly like him, portrays the artist pretty well. The film is directed by artist Julian Schnabel.

This really is a fun, upbeat movie that gracefully goes from scene to scene with non stop entertainment. It follows the years of the American painter when he seemed to explode onto the art scene with his abstract graffiti inspired art. It centers on him catching the interest of the pop-artist Andy Warhol. This odd couple instantly forms a bond. The older, more experienced and successful Warhol used Basquiat’s young, new energy to re-inspire his own art, while Basquiat took the guidance and help from Warhol to get ahead. The two form a friendship and collaborate on some paintings.

If you want to catch the real artist at work, check out Downtown 81, which stars the young Basquiat himself in New York, and features some of his original artwork.

2. Caravaggio ****

I love this film for its uniqueness. This is truly one of those films about art that is a piece of art itself. Its main story involves the love triangle between the artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, a character named Lena, and Rannucio, who poses for some paintings. Just like the style of the Baroque painter, it blends historically accurate items and clothes with modern ones.

Not everything in movies needs to be believable, in fact this movie is only loosely based on the real life of Caravaggio. This film is high quality for its attention to detail and the poetic narration of the dying artist as he looks back on his life in his death bed. It was directed by Derek Jarman, with the production design by Christopher Hobbs, who also painted all the reproductions seen in the movie.

Of course, if I really like a movie, you can expect it to be weird. So I’d recommend watching this movie when you’re in that kind of mood.

3. Pollock

This one I admit I haven’t seen yet but will as soon as I can. I thought I’d share it with you because it looks interesting to me. It stars Ed Harris as abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock known for his drip paintings where he would lay linen or canvas on the floor and stand above it and splatter paint onto it with brushes, sticks, and anything else he could get his hands on.

This wouldn’t be the first time Harris played an artist, having acted as Beethoven in Copying Beethoven, which centered around the stormy final years of the German composer. Apparently Pollock was the quite the character and I’m curious to see Harris portraying him. Interestingly all the paintings in the movie were done by Ed Harris himself.

4. Surviving Picasso ***

“Only his passion for women could rival his passion for painting,” is what the poster says of 20th century Spanish painter Pablo Picasso. And that’s mostly what the movie is about, the interesting and often stormy relationships the artist had, leading double lives and falling in love with several women at the same time. It is about Picasso‘s personal life as seen through the eyes of François Gilot.

This movie really got me into Picasso, partly because it was well acted with my favorite actor Anthony Hopkins excellently playing the artist. It’s very entertaining, and although not very many of the painter’s work is shown, it does show the man at work sometimes (the film makers did not have permission to show the paintings).

5. Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon ***

This one I discovered not too long ago about the Irish figurative painter Francis Bacon, played by Sir Derek Jacobi. I was very pleased with it in general: great acting, great cinematography, and interesting story. It follows the relationship Bacon had with George Dyer, 16 years his junior, who he had met, believe it or not, while Dyer was burgling Bacon’s apartment.

Like Caravaggio, it is poetically narrated, only this time giving us a glimpse into the mind of the painter responsible for such disturbing works as Head I and Head VI. Throughout the movie, faces are seen in mirrors and other reflective surfaces and often distorted, which is characteristic of Bacon’s work. It’s well written, and comical at times, although the movie as a whole is very dark and foreboding- with Dyer’s images of blood and death, leading up to his suicide ending a tortured life and relationship.

6. The Agony and the Ecstasy

This is another one on my list that I have yet to see. It follows the Italian painter Michelangelo and his difficult dealings with the church, namely Pope Julius II, who commissioned the painter to paint the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel. This job would take over ten years of the painter’s life, give him serious eye problems due to the paint dripping into them, and numerous other physical troubles, all without receiving very much gratitude at all.

I haven’t begun to get my fill of Michelangelo, so I’m looking forward to this one. I also like Charleton Heston, being a big fan of Ben Hur. So I’m sure the acting is good, and I hear several works of art are shown in the movie, including Raphael’s School of Athens, and the 12 Apostles and the Creation of Adam, being parts of the Sistene’s ceiling.

So I’ll check out Pollock, and The Agony and The Ecstasy and scope out some other movies about painters and I’ll let you know what I find. I’m sure I’ll think of some other ones. Any good ones I missed?

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