Klimt (film)
Encyclopedia
Klimt is a 2006 Austrian art-house biographical film
about the life of the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt
(1862–1918). It was written and directed by Raoul Ruiz
, with an English screenplay adaptation by Gilbert Adair
. The director of photography was Ricardo Aronovich, and the music was composed by Jorge Arriagada
. The title role was played by John Malkovich
and the cast included Stephen Dillane
. Both a 130 minute long director's cut and a shortened producer's cut of 96 minutes were shown at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival.
(Nikolai Kinski
). Themes within the film include Klimt's platonic friendship with Emilie Floege (Veronica Ferres
). Much of the film is centred on Klimt's relationship with Lea de Castro (Saffron Burrows
), a dancer to whom he is introduced by the film pioneer Georges Melies
.
where it was nominated for two awards, winning the Russian Film Clubs Federation Award.
Philip French
, in The Observer
described the film as calculatedly enigmatic. Cosmo Landesman
, in The Sunday Times
, described the film as "frigid and silly" being unnecessarily difficult to follow in the style of Stanley Kubrick
's Eyes Wide Shut
.
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
about the life of the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects...
(1862–1918). It was written and directed by Raoul Ruiz
Raoul Ruiz
Raúl Ernesto Ruiz Pino was a Chilean filmmaker.Ruiz spent some years at the Catholic University of Santa Fe, Argentina's cinema school. Back in Chile, he directed his first feature film Tres tristes tigres in the late 1960s, winning the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival...
, with an English screenplay adaptation by Gilbert Adair
Gilbert Adair
Gilbert Adair is a Scottish author, film critic and journalist. He won the Author's Club First Novel Award in 1988 for his novel The Holy Innocents. In 1995 he won the Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize for his book A Void, which is a translation of the French book La Disparition by Georges Perec...
. The director of photography was Ricardo Aronovich, and the music was composed by Jorge Arriagada
Jorge Arriagada
Jorge Arriagada is an award-winning composer for film. He is perhaps best known for his long time collaboration with director Raúl Ruiz. He has also worked with directors like Patricio Guzman, Barbet Schroeder and Olivier Assayas....
. The title role was played by John Malkovich
John Malkovich
John Gavin Malkovich is an American actor, producer, director and fashion designer with his label Technobohemian. Over the last 25 years of his career, Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures. For his roles in Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire, he received Academy Award...
and the cast included Stephen Dillane
Stephen Dillane
Stephen J. Dillane is an English actor. He won a Tony Award for his lead performance in Tom Stoppard's play The Real Thing.-Early life:...
. Both a 130 minute long director's cut and a shortened producer's cut of 96 minutes were shown at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival.
Plot
Klimt's life-story unfolds in the artist's mind as he lies dying of syphilis in a Viennese hospital where he is visited by his friend, Egon SchieleEgon Schiele
Egon Schiele was an Austrian painter. A protégé of Gustav Klimt, Schiele was a major figurative painter of the early 20th century. His work is noted for its intensity, and the many self-portraits the artist produced...
(Nikolai Kinski
Nikolai Kinski
Nanhoï Nikolai Kinski is a film actor, and the only acknowledged son of the prolific actor Klaus Kinski and his third wife, Minhoi Geneviève Loanic. He is the half-brother of actresses Nastassja Kinski and Pola Kinski. Nikolai was born in France, but was raised in California, United States...
). Themes within the film include Klimt's platonic friendship with Emilie Floege (Veronica Ferres
Veronica Ferres
Veronica Maria Cäcilia Ferres is a German actress who gained fame as Pierre Richard's co-star in the French TV-movie Sans famille and as the horrible Mme. Thénardier in the 2000 French TV miniseries Les Misérables...
). Much of the film is centred on Klimt's relationship with Lea de Castro (Saffron Burrows
Saffron Burrows
Saffron Dominique Burrows is an English actress and former fashion model, who starred as Det. Serena Stevens on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Lorraine Weller on Boston Legal.-Early life:...
), a dancer to whom he is introduced by the film pioneer Georges Melies
Georges Méliès
Georges Méliès , full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest cinema. He was very innovative in the use of special effects...
.
Reception
The film was shown at the 2006 Moscow International Film FestivalMoscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival , is the film festival first held in Moscow in 1959. From its inception to 1995 it was held every second year in July, alternating with the Karlovy Vary festival. The festival has been held annually since 1995....
where it was nominated for two awards, winning the Russian Film Clubs Federation Award.
Philip French
Philip French
Philip French is a British film critic and former radio producer.French, the son of an insurance salesman, was educated at the direct grant Bristol Grammar School, read Law at Oxford University. and post graduate study in Journalism at Indiana University, Bloomington on a scholarship.He has been...
, in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
described the film as calculatedly enigmatic. Cosmo Landesman
Cosmo Landesman
Cosmo Landesman is a journalist and editor and son of Jay and Fran Landesman. With his then wife Julie Burchill, he set up the magazine The Modern Review. The magazine eventually folded, and Burchill left him for Charlotte Raven, one of the magazine's female interns.After the experience Landesman...
, in The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, described the film as "frigid and silly" being unnecessarily difficult to follow in the style of Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut is a 1999 drama film based upon Arthur Schnitzler's 1926 novella Traumnovelle . The film was directed, produced and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, and was his last film. The story, set in and around New York City, follows the sexually-charged adventures of Dr...
.