The Lovers of Montparnasse

Paris in the twenties. Modigliani drinks, paints and cannot sell. The dealers do not want him; in the street he trades portraits for drink. His affair with Beatrice ends and he takes up with Jeanne, a young student. His health worsens. And there is Morel: a dealer who knows the work will be worth something one day and is waiting for the painter to die. Jacques Becker directs. Gérard Philipe plays Modigliani, Anouk Aimée plays Jeanne and Lilli Palmer plays Beatrice. Max Ophüls had been preparing the film; he died before shooting began and it passed to Becker. It is dedicated to Ophüls. The subject is the market rather than art. Modigliani's talent is never in question; the matter is when and for whom work acquires value, and the film shows it directly through Morel. It does not romanticise the artist. Modigliani here is unpleasant, selfish and damaging to those around him; the narrative does not present his suffering as a virtue. Gérard Philipe was among the best known actors in French cinema and died shortly after this film at thirty six. The image is black and white; the streets of Montparnasse were built partly in the studio and partly on location. Who it is for: viewers who like French classics and biographies of artists. Who it is not for: the pace is slow, the character is unpleasant, and the narrative concentrates on the last years rather than building a life.