Good Movie Review On Modigliani

Modigliani is a biographical drama directed by Mick Davis that tells us about the life and work of the famous artist of the early XX century, Amedeo Modigliani. The main role is played by Andy Garcia. Although there are very few real facts in the film and the majority of the story lines were made up by the creators, the film can still be recommended as a beautiful story with names and some elements of the life of the brilliant artists of the early 20th century.
The story takes place in Paris in 1919. The World War I has just ended recently, and the night life in Paris is again full of passion and uncontrolled hazardous desires. In this maelstrom of active life stands out the Rotonda café that is a kind of headquarters not only of the artistic elite of Paris, but also of the whole of Europe; its regular visitors are Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, Jean Cocteau, Chaim Soutine, Maurice Utrillo and Modigliani.
The film tells the story of a desperate and brutal rivalry between Modigliani and Picasso. Picasso already basks in the glory, while Modigliani – a rebel, a passionate lover and a drunkard – is still practically unknown at the moment. Therefore, when the Rotonda cafe declares sensational art competition, Picasso and Modigliani also choose to participate in it. However, not only the rivalry with Picasso pushes Modigliani to participate in the contest; for him it is a rare chance to become rich and famous. His passion for the young beauty Jeanne Hebuterne has already surprised the secular world, and Amedeo’s poverty seriously affects his already complicated relationship with Jeanne’s family.
During the decisive night before the contest, the participants paint their paintings that according to the terms and conditions of the contest they will have to provide to the public. Modigliani also paints his painting for the contest. His work is declared the best, but Modigliani was not present at the contest, lingering at the bar. When Modigliani finally recalls that the contest was to take place that day, he leaves the bar without paying the bill. Two guys who work in the bar beat him up very severely and after they have not found any money in his pockets, they leave him to die on the street. Modigliani manages to get to the house; Jeanne and his friends send Modigliani to the hospital, where he dies. From grief Jeanne commits suicide while on the ninth month of pregnancy. The film ends with the scene of a double funeral that was also attended by Picasso.
While watching the film, the viewer keeps thinking that a genius is a person who lives in a different dimension, different from the one in which ordinary people live. The film gives us the opportunity for a moment to be in this dimension, to feel its atmosphere, the way Jeanne felt when she fell in love with a genius and made a step to follow him into oblivion, but at the same time she made a step into eternity through his paintings, his talent and the power of his love.
It is remarkable that the filmmakers did not limit themselves to only look at the history of the artist’s personal life and his relationships with others, as we can often observe in other films. One of the main themes of this film is the phenomenon of creativity. The scene where the artist created their paintings with Ave, Maria theme playing on the background was amazing! This scene has everything in it: inspiration, throes of creation, a flight of fancy, the frenzy of the artist, the birth of a masterpiece, and the feeling of being drained after painting. Surprisingly, the film is able to show all this.
Considering the formal techniques used for the film creation, there are a lot of important terms: scenic shots that are extremely important in the films about artist, inadvertently evoke in the memory the paintings of famous impressionists; everyday life, costumes, scenery do not give doubt regarding the period depicted in the film; music helps to transfer into an unknown world, where the artists lived and worked; music permeates and animates the film, and along with the action makes the viewers empathize and sometimes even shudder.
The film is beautiful, and trying to find fault with inaccuracies of the artists’ biographies is the same as being angry that Modigliani’s models in reality do not have such graceful long necks that he portrayed on his immortal paintings. Is it not better to take the film as a work of art and to leave the creators the right for fiction when they create the film?