So I wanted to list my top art films, that is films about art, not art films like David Lynch’s Eraserhead. I can’t really put these in any particular order but I thought I would describe why I like each film so much.
Woman in Gold
Starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds it recounts the true story of Maria Altmann sixty years after she fled Vienna during World War II, and her struggle to recover one of Gustov Klimt’s most famous paintings, and her aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Which in Vienna at the time was simply titled “The Woman in Gold”. Ryan Reynolds plays Randy Schoenberg, the young lawyer who helps her recover the painting which was later sold to Ronald Lauder (of the Estee Lauder fortune) for $135 million and the condition that it always be on public display.
I like the film because it stars Helen Mirren, who is one of my all time favorite actresses. It does, in my opinion, a good job of making the story and the people in it relatable. I also like the fact it deals with a touchy subject, reparations. A subject which we’re still dealing with (Elgin Marbles anyone?)
If I had a complaint it would be that it isn’t really about Klimt or his work, that is on the periphery. It is much more about what the Nazis did to Jewish families, and their descendants’ struggle for justice. I suppose complaint isn’t quite the right word, but I wished it talked a little more about why this painting is so incredible. The length of time it took to paint (over a year), how much Klimt was paid (a considerable sum), and a little more about why this was considered the “Mona Lisa of Austria”
Basquiat
Starring Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott, Benicio Del Toro, David Bowie, Dennis Hopper and a whole bunch of other famous people, this is the story of Jean Michel Basquiat and his meteoric rise to fame. With the help of Andy Warhol, and Bruno Bischofberger, Basquiat goes from being a starving artist to being the toast of the art world. Sadly he passed away at 24 from a drug overdose.
I was fortunate enough to see the exhibit of his work here at the AGO and it was pretty fantastic. While his work takes awhile to process, some are very complex with lots of text, there is a certain naivete to it which I find appealing, especially against the backdrop of the New York Art scene. The movie, in my opinion does a great job of showing the artifice of the art work while simultaneously showing the passion and conviction of the artists trapped within it. There is a great line that sums it up nicely, “No one want to be part of a generation that ignores another Van Gogh.”
Plus it was directed by Julian Schnabel, who is a famous artist in his own right.
Tim’s Vermeer
This film is difficult to describe other than obsessive. Directed by Teller (of Penn & Teller fame) and narrated by his partner Penn, it follows a friend of theirs Tim Jenison, and his obsessive efforts to figure out how Vermeer did his paintings. It starts with a crude test using a mirror and photograph and quickly becomes this full blown obsession to reproduce Johannes Vermeer’s “The Music Lesson”. Vermeer’s original is on the left and Tim’s painting is on the right.
To say that Mr. Jenison has done it is an understatement. He goes so far as to recreate the entire room with props he has made using the same techniques Vermeer would have had at his disposal; including using a lathe to make the paino legs, mixing his own paint and polishing his own lenses.
As a painter, and one who has hand made his own paints I appreciate the immense effort required to produce just that! And part of me is in love with the idea that I too could create a painting as fine as Vermeer. Personally I think Tim’s carpet is better and he seems to have more detail in the piano. However, Tim literally spends years working on this, and I doubt anything can hold my attention that long…but it is fun to dream.
That is it for round one of my favorite art films. Three very different films but all about art, more to come in the future.