Flamingo-style pauses - the indulgent life of the genius artist Modigliani

Christophe 2022-06-27 23:44:40

"Do you know what love is?"
"True love"
"You love so deeply that you feel like you should go to hell?"
"I have".
Jeanne, Modigliani's wife's frail body, appeared in the dark of the high window lattice and muttered to herself.
This is the beginning of the film, the quiet after the rush of enthusiasm, surprisingly quiet.
Modigliani, a talented artist at the beginning of the 20th century, is a young and handsome Italian man with the passion and talent unique to Italians. His works are deeply influenced by Monet and also bear the imprint of African stone carving. He painted figures with long necks and closed eyes.
In Montmartre in 1919, a bar where artists gathered, people displayed their talents and discussed the topic of art, Modigliani was the dazzling star.
He was the only artist who challenged Picasso. He was so disdainful of his businessman-style painting vision, and the other side also spoke ill of him for his unruly character, but they were deeply impressed by each other's artistic talent.
His life is inseparable from painting, alcoholism and his love, Jeanne, a beautiful woman whom he met at art academy.
He was naughty and decadent like a child, selling drunk on the street every night, or doing some not-so-righteous deeds with his friends.
His charisma, burst of talent has made animals quiet and modelling, and of course Jeanne. When he met her, he held up her beautiful head, looked into her eyes, and said in an unquestionable tone-"You will become my model", this sentence tied the life of the two of them.
Jeanne loved him, gave birth to their daughter, and even ran away from home to come to him despite her family's objections. Her mother couldn't bear to secretly visit her daughter, only to see her unkempt scrubbing the toilet for the artist. "I can't live without him" Jeanne's eyes were blurred with tears, and the crazy love penetrated into the heart and soul.
I like the clip of the couple dancing on the street at night. Jeanne's red shawl is fluttering and waving like a flamenco dancer. It doesn't matter what to give or get, just blindly sinking and fulfilling the union of spirit and flesh.
The climax of the film is Modigliani's participation in the Paris Art Competition with Picasso, which became the most high-profile event in Paris at the time. Modigliani knew he couldn't lose, not only to win against Picasso, but also for Jeanne and her newborn daughter. He wants to create the most outstanding works, and only she, Jeanne, can be his treasure. This wild Italian smashed the shop windows, the goddess in his heart was wearing a blue velvet skirt, and his pregnant belly was bulging out again, and he looked at him serenely, like the first time he met him.
The canvas falls, and Jeanne's portrait impresses everyone in the hall, all applauding with respect for the art. The melody of flamenco hit everyone's heart with crisp dance steps, leading people to be ecstatic like a red flame.
The melody stopped abruptly, and he fell to the ground in blood, unconscious with his marriage certificate. All the people were weeping, people cast the dead faces of talented artists in plaster.
The flamenco-style pause is the intense pain after the heat, tearing hearts. She answered her own question: "I have", then lay down on her back softly, falling...
Modigliani's biopics are like his paintings, rich in color, lively, and also with deep pain - all the people in the pictures are Close your eyes.
Without Jeanne's teaser-style babble at the beginning, and the memories of Modigliani's hours, it is also a scene that often appears in the film - his family is bankrupt, the footsteps of people who raid the house, and the only furniture and property are guarded by the mother. The window collapsed because the law says no one has the right to take anything from a pregnant woman's bed - I almost thought this would be a biopic commemorating the feat of genius, when in fact it's more about a tragic love affair.

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Extended Reading

Modigliani quotes

  • Pablo Picasso: Why do you hate me so much?

    Amedeo Modigliani: I love you, Pablo. It's myself I hate.

  • Amedeo Modigliani: Tell me, Pablo, how do you make love to a cube?