The Stories about Art Films: 24. Modigliani (2004), ACJ Movie Academy

Basic Info

Title: Modigliani
Genre: Drama
Country: United States, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, United Kingdom
Language: English
Running time: 128 minutes
Release date: 29 September 2004 (France)

Staff

Director: Mick Davis
Produced by: Philippe Martinez, André Djaoui, Stéphanie Martinez
Screenplay: Mick Davis
Cinematography: Emmanuel Kadosh
Music: Guy Farley
Editor: Emma E. Hickox

Cast 

Andy García as Amedeo Modigliani
Elsa Zylberstein as Jeanne Hébuterne
Omid Djalili as Pablo Picasso
Hippolyte Girardot as Maurice Utrillo
Udo Kier as Max Jacob
Susie Amy as Beatrice Hastings
Peter Capaldi as Jean Cocteau
Louis Hilyer as Léopold Zborowski
Stevan Rimkus as Chaim Soutine
Dan Astileanu as Diego Rivera
George Ivascu as Moise Kisling
Theodor Danetti as Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Summary 

“Modigliani” is a 2004 drama biographical film written and directed by Mick Davis. It is based on the life of the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. In the film, Andy García starred as Amedeo Modigliani and Elsa Zylberstein as Jeanne Hébuterne. Appearing at a number of film festivals in 2004 and 2005, the film made its world premiere at the Gala Selection of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Plot

Set in Paris in 1919, this biographical film highlights the rivalry between Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso, focusing on the artistic aspect. Modigliani, an Italian artist from Livorno, falls in love with Jeanne, a young and beautiful French woman. The two live together and give birth a baby, but Jeanne's father sends the baby to a distant convent. 

The annual art competition in Paris is coming soon, and the winner of the competition is guaranteed a prize money and a bright future as an artist. Modigliani had never participated in this competition because he thought it was too secular for true artists like him to attend. However, poor Modigliani, who needs money to raise his child, signs up for the competition while intoxicated with alcohol and drugs at a cafe frequented by artists, including Picasso. 

Modigliani's painting of Jeanne in a blue dress that he had stolen from a shop window wins the competition besting even the cubist portrait drawn by Picasso entitled “Modigliani." But Modigliani dies in hospital, and Jeanne commits suicide by falling from a window with her unborn child. 

Movie Review

“Those whom Gods love”
“A trip back in time to the magical world of the artist”
“An excellent movie”
“A true actor's movie”
“An amazing film, an amazing performance”
“Glad that's over and now can we see a movie about Modigliani”
“Beautiful work of theatrical art”
“Being a great artist means you have not to spoil it”

Interesting stories about the film

1. The scene when the furniture was piled up on the bed of Modigliani's mother is an incident that took place when Modigliani was born. It is a scene of property seizure following the bankruptcy for the business failure of Modigliani's father.

2. Modigliani met Jeanne in 1917, not 1919.

3. The rivalry between Modigliani and Picasso in the film has never been firmly proven.

4. “La vie en rose” by Edith Piaf, which is played when Modigliani and Jeanne dance in the streets, is a song written in 1945.

5. Modigliani met Renoir around 1918 without Picasso's help.

6. Modigliani died of meningitis and was not beaten up in the streets.

Thank you.

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