The cinematography is great. That is the one redeeming aspect of this yucky mess. Actually, it also makes you curious about Modigliani, was he really so disgusting, which is another redeeming aspect that I don't think the filmmaker's intended.
I was looking for a single good scene to show my Humanities students, so I could say that this was what great painters or paintings were like in the early 1900's. There just weren't any. Instead of any kind of truth about art or society, the film just posits a fictitious feud between Picasso and Modigliani. As a background element this would have been interesting, but it is given equal weight to the love relationship between Modigliani and his model Jeanne. Modigliani's drug abuse and natural bad health are the antagonists in the love story. One never really finds out anything about Jeanne, like why a wealthy and beautiful woman would be hanging out with such a destructive person. One five minute scene almost qualified as good. Picasso, for no particular reason, suddenly puts aside his animosity to Modigliani and takes hims to see Renoir. Renoir asks if Modigliani is mad and Modigliani just smiles and gestures "a little". Even this sweet little scene is ruined when Modigliani lights his cigarette with a 1950's lighter. The worst part is a montage sequence when paintings are being revealed at an art competition. The unveiling of the art is juxtaposed with Modigliani getting his head bashed in.
While, I do not generally care about historical accuracy, this movie is so way off that it really interferes with a viewer's pleasure. The movie seems to be saying that Modigliani was a drug addict and drunk and didn't care about anybody, but he really knew how to live life! Oh, by the way, he was also a painter.
I was looking for a single good scene to show my Humanities students, so I could say that this was what great painters or paintings were like in the early 1900's. There just weren't any. Instead of any kind of truth about art or society, the film just posits a fictitious feud between Picasso and Modigliani. As a background element this would have been interesting, but it is given equal weight to the love relationship between Modigliani and his model Jeanne. Modigliani's drug abuse and natural bad health are the antagonists in the love story. One never really finds out anything about Jeanne, like why a wealthy and beautiful woman would be hanging out with such a destructive person. One five minute scene almost qualified as good. Picasso, for no particular reason, suddenly puts aside his animosity to Modigliani and takes hims to see Renoir. Renoir asks if Modigliani is mad and Modigliani just smiles and gestures "a little". Even this sweet little scene is ruined when Modigliani lights his cigarette with a 1950's lighter. The worst part is a montage sequence when paintings are being revealed at an art competition. The unveiling of the art is juxtaposed with Modigliani getting his head bashed in.
While, I do not generally care about historical accuracy, this movie is so way off that it really interferes with a viewer's pleasure. The movie seems to be saying that Modigliani was a drug addict and drunk and didn't care about anybody, but he really knew how to live life! Oh, by the way, he was also a painter.