As a Modigliani fan, I have to admit that while watching director Mick Davis, When Andy Garcia starred in this movie, I had a rather critical eye.
Paris in the early 20th century, where Modigliani lived, has always been an era that fascinates me very much. At that time, countless artistic geniuses emerged, various artistic trends collided, and artists were bohemian and uninhibited. life, all make people have infinite reverie. In this film, it is worth affirming the reproduction of that era: costumes, street scenes, characters, cafes. . . It's beautiful and the picture is exquisite. There are many memorable scenes, such as the dance of Modigliani and Jeanne on the street, which is very romantic (but I still have to insert a sentence, dancing with them. The music is La Vie en Rose, which was only composed in the 1940s).
But other than that, this movie really disappointed me.
Andy Garcia's performance seems to be well-received on IMDB, but I think his temperament is far from Modigliani's. Modigliani was the prince of Montparnasse, and at his worst, he was generous, lovable, and universally popular. His illness had a huge impact on his personality and artistic career, he was noble, vulnerable, and he used alcohol and drugs to create the illusion of being in high spirits. But Andy Garcia's appearance is too bloated in the first place, not as handsome as Modigliani, and there is a sense of roughness in his temperament, being down is really down, which makes him more like a mafia than an artist - Not like Modigliani anyway.
The role of Jeanne is played by Elza Zylberstein. This French actress does not look like Jeanne herself, but she has the temperament of the person in Modigliani's paintings, and many of her close-ups are very pleasing to the eye. But I think because of the script, the character feels very superficial, and her personality is rather vague except for her unwavering love for Modigliani.
The director did not intend to make this film a documentary, so many historical facts have been changed. Some changes are a bit uncomfortable. In pursuit of dramatic effect, the competition, confrontation and mutual sympathy between Modigliani and Picasso are handled exaggeratedly, much like the battle of street gangsters. The meeting between Modigliani and Renoir was actually tampered with to be met by Picasso, in the suburbs of Paris (actually, when Modigliani was in the south of France, he was introduced by Ostland), and Renoir met Modigliani's mysterious and unintelligible words also made people laugh. In fact, the meeting between Modigliani and Renoir was by no means a pleasant one, but in this film, it was very affectionate.
Modigliani's death also arranged for an inexplicable beating, especially the destruction of his hands, which is unreasonable. Does it imply that his opponent arranged it? This kind of arbitrary play that deviates from historical facts does not increase the charm of the movie, but makes people feel that it is very cheap and sensational.
Modigliani's life is already dramatic enough, and it is better to respect historical facts.
In addition, Modigliani's childhood, who always appears in the film and keeps talking with Modigliani, looks a bit ridiculous, like a shallow and formalized expression of Freud's childhood influence on life . On the other hand, it is too clumsy to realize the inner activities of the characters through dialogue with the past self.
The film's Achilles heel is its lack of depth, as a film that reflects Modigliani's life, first of all in terms of Modigliani's greatness and his contribution to art. In addition, the source of Modigliani's inner pain is not even mentioned in the film. In fact, the most painful thing in his artistic career was his lung disease, his fragile health, which completely prevented him from practicing sculpture, which he loved so much. And in this movie, not a single Modigliani sculpture can be seen! The movie shows his dissolute life, drinking and drug addiction, but the reasons for his inner struggles and conflicts are completely confusing.
So, even though the film is beautiful in form, it's not really worth recommending.
Crookshanks
2006-7-27
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