2024-04-16
Film-makers often seek inspiration for their productions in the world of visual arts. Which films inspired by contemporary artists and their art are worth starting with? In this overview, I will present a subjective selection of such projects.
The 2016 film directed by Andrzej Wajda tells the story of the last years of the life of Władysław Strzemiński, art theorist and pioneer of the avant-garde of the 1920s and 1930s. The filmmakers chose to show a portrait of an artist crushed by the system, an artist who refused to create according to the rules of socialist realism. Critics of the production accuse it of omitting threads from the artist's private life, including a failure to show the difficult relationship between the artist and the sculptor Katarzyna Kobro. Only the artist's daughter, Nika, briefly appears on-screen. It is worth noting that this is the last production in the filmography of Andrzej Wajda, who died in 2016. The lead role was played by Bogusław Linda, the cinematographer was Paweł Edelman.
Basquiat - Dancing with Death is an American film about the life of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), an artist who inspired New York's bohemian scene and incorporated elements of primitive African art, contemporary street art and comics into his compositions. The director takes the viewer from the artist's childhood, through his burgeoning career and acquaintance with Andy Warhol, to his death as a result of mixing cocaine and heroin. Interestingly, Polish director Lech Majewski took part in the work of the script.
The film Big Eyes is a 2015 film biopic about the talented Margaret Keane, an American painter whose husband claimed authorship of her paintings. The artist struggles for truth, recognition and liberation from the influence of a ruthless despot and from the role imposed on her by society. In the title role, we see Amy Adams (Golden Globe, Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical). The film was directed by Tim Burton.