This film was written and directed by Mick Davis. Co-starring Andy Garcia, Elsa Zylberstein, Eva Herzigova. Andy Garcia brilliantly plays the passionate Italian/Jewish artist, Amedeo Modigliani, who was contemporary with Picasso. Andy Garcia's character, as most artists, suffers from non-recognition. To deal with this, he turns to alcohol and drugs, but his great passion for life makes him loved by all. According to the film, Picasso (in his arrogance and success) is competitive with Modigliani (who has a hard time compromising and selling out to buyers who wish to buy his paintings not because they understand his work or are even interested, but because Modigliani is in vogue), which is a problem among most artists who aspire to greatness. Picasso sells to any buyer and has no qualms why they are buying his work. They do admire each other, but Picasso does not easily admit it.
According to the book Picasso, by Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington, "Modigliani was one of the few younger painters who remembered being encouraged by the master. At the time, he was still struggling and unrecognized except as an arbiter of elegance, and not even Picasso's inventive imagination could dream up enough reasons to feel threatened by him. So they met publicly at the Rotonde-which immediately raised Modigliani's status in the eyes of the habitués. Picasso told him to keep on drawing: 'One can never draw enough.'"
There are many wonderful characters in this film with fine acting that takes the viewer right into that century and time in Paris, when art was the voice of change and revolution. A must see for all artists and for people who enjoy a very well-done film. It's an adventure into the passion of love and expression of life.
~Van of Urantia*MPAA = Motion Picture Association of America
