Modigliani

Paris, 1919. Amedeo Modigliani lives on drink and drugs, sells nothing, and is with Jeanne Hébuterne, whose family will not accept the relationship. The film sets up a rivalry between Modigliani and Picasso and brings them face to face in a painting competition. Mick Davis writes and directs. Andy García plays Modigliani and Elsa Zylberstein plays Jeanne. That construction is what got attacked. Modigliani and Picasso knew each other, but the rivalry, the competition and the final night are invention. Art historians criticised the film heavily and pointed out that the Montparnasse of the period did not work like this. What is real is the ending. Modigliani died of tubercular meningitis in 1920 at thirty five. Jeanne Hébuterne threw herself from a window the next day, nine months pregnant. The film does not alter that. García prepared seriously for the part and painted with his own hands on camera; his performance is the most defended thing in it. The reviews were very bad and it did no business. Who it is for: viewers curious about artist biography and 1920s Paris. Who it is not for: anyone wanting reliable information. The film is not historically trustworthy and its most dramatic scenes are wholly invented.