source: Untitled Modigliani Project

Trailer—Modigliani

Modigliani

This film deserves no review. It is the worst movie I have never seen. I voted with my feet and walked out. The filmmakers have taken the foundation of a remarkable story, person, and talent and constructed over this foundation a facade which collapses into a putrid dung heap of bourgeois cliché. Was this one of those classic examples of producers forcing a rewrite into some cretinous drivel they could at last relate to on their own level? If the filmmakers couldn't handle the truth of this story why did they bother at all? The director should reconsider his present occupation and focus his future employment energies with some police-state propaganda ministry where his predilection for "The Big Lie" will play with great appreciation. If he Bowdlerizes his upcoming project about the story of Dorian Gray to a similar extent as this film I can see clearly the denouement - "Shock! Gasp! Horrors! Look at the painting! My God! There! Look! It's a tiny blackhead on the side of his nose!"

Did the screen writers both to pick up a copy of Janson? Or anything with a basic outline of art history? And what is with the famous Piaf song, La Vie En Rose playing from a café as Modigliani and Jeune walk on a Paris street. A beautifully filmed song, so someone knew a bit about cinematography, but didn't bother to do any other homework. La Vie En Rose was popular in post war Paris, World War II that is. Not in 1914, or whenever the scene is supposed to be taking place because the flashbacks are indistinguishable. The depictions of Utrillo, Picasso, Braque, Stein and Rivera are cliché at best. And Frida Kahlo is supposed to be in this?? Whattt?? Kahlo didn't make Paris until the late 1930s. Certainly there are better venues for Andy Garcia. This is actually worse than the most recent "wild sex in ex-pat Paris" film, Head in the Clouds. I'm giving it a four because 2 is usually reserved for pornos. Although some lush sex scenes might redeem this a bit.

Andy Garcia gives an award winning performance as Italian Jewish artist, Amedeo Modigliani, in this film about his tragic life. He was madly in love with a French Catholic woman, Jeanne, whose father made it impossible for them to be together. Regardless, Jeanne would sacrifice custody of their own daughter in order to be with him. She just couldn't live without him. The supporting cast is quite good with Miriam Margolyes OBE playing Gertrude Stein (where was Alice B. Toklas?) in this film. The film was filmed on location in Paris. Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and other famed artists of that period were also portrayed but my main problem with this film was the lack of clarity in this film. It's a worthy effort but it could have done a little better.

I really liked the movie. it is beautifully shot and the acting is great and that also counts for the beautiful story of this painter. Sure, if you are not into 'art' movies this wont be something for you but if you like a movie that is not a Hollywood blockbuster and if you like Garcia, i'm sure that you will like the movie. Andy Garcia is far most the only 'star' in the movie but that gives the movie a certain amount of credibility. If there would have been to many A listers, the movie wouldn't have worked like it does now. Although the movie is set in the 1920-1930's there is also a modern part (the scene where everyone is painting their masterworks for the exibition with some lounge music on the background is gorgeous!). So if you want to see a true actor's movie check it out!

It is a good biographical movie, even if it is obviously overdramatized. Andy Garcia again plays a charismatic , yet having abuse problems, which makes me wonder how he is in real life. Anyway, he did a great role. Worth mentioning, the movie was shot in Romania, with a lot of Romanian actors. It was funny hearing "Ionel, Ionelule" sung in French, since it was all supposed to be happening in Paris. Now, about the movie. It showed an overly emotional world of artists, highly competitive, yet in owe of one another. Being a rather technical, introverted guy, I cannot sympathize with any of the characters. They all did really stupid things for reasons I didn't understand. Yet the movie was definitely a good movie, although I guess it would have a greater impact on women and artists. It is, after all, a drama, so don't expect a nice little film with a happy ending.

I was lucky to see this movie in Paris where this movie was first released in the cinemas. I was really impressed by the brilliant performances of Andy Garcia and Elsa Zylberstein and the rest of the cast. Andy Garcia is a VERY versatile and extremely talented actor. We may already know this story is about the last years' of life of the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani and set in Paris in 1919. However this movie has a new approach and new ideas and it is not an ordinary biography movie. The spirit of Paris in that period comes alive in this movie. Everyone who involved in this movie worked with passion and passion is actually a main theme of this movie. I totally enjoyed seeing this movie and I hope that this movie will be released widely and many people will be able to see it. We are all surrounded by those big blockbuster movies nowadays and it is so nice to see Modigliani, a real gem.

I find Modigliani a movie worth to be seen! Some of you might consider it doesn't capture the real "spirit" of that era or that it's being put too much accent on the painter's madness and on his interior drama; but this is Modigliani in Mick Davis's conception, it's a movie not a documentary! The soundtrack is perfectly chosen to amplify the feelings transmitted by the excellent performance of the actors. It is more than a cinematographic production. It is a symbiosis between passion and love, human nature and vices. The memories of Amedeo about his childhood, the reproofs of "Modigliani-the little boy ", the incapacity of resisting to temptations and the permanent psychological pressure given by having such a rivalry have driven him to auto-destruction. It is the destiny of a man who passed away just a moment before tasting success... I consider Modigliani-the movie- art about art.