Modigliani (DVD, 2005)

This lavish biopic directed by Mick Davis follows Italian painter Amadeo Modigliani (Andy Garcia) as he struggles to establish himself as a successful artist in early 20th-century Paris. The film mainly focuses on Modigliani's tumultuous relationships with friend and rival Pablo Picasso (Omid Djalili), and with Jeanne Hebuterne (Elsa Zylberstein), a beautiful young woman the artist seduces and begins painting a year prior to when the film begins. Now a mother to Modigliani's illegitimate child, Jeanne is torn between her love for the painter (whom her father forbids her to see because he's a Jew), and her loyalty towards her baby (which her father threatens to hand over to the authorities if Jeanne has any involvement with Modigliani). All too ready to accept his fate as a failure, Modigliani has not sold a painting in months, lives in relative squalor, and spends his hours drinking heavily and smoking opium despite warnings that it is killing him. The film travels with the artist through the eventful year leading up to his death, setting the stage for a night that brings both triumph and tragedy. Through the reappearing character of a boyhood version of the artist, MODIGLIANI explores what drew the man to painting, and the demons that ultimately drove him to self-destruction. While MODIGLIANI presents itself as a work of fiction, it does provide the viewer with a visually stimulating outlet into a time and place where much of modern art history was made.