Surviving Picasso [VHS]

Surviving Picasso [VHS]
by James Ivory

Surviving Picasso [VHS]

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Category: VHS Video
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Product details

Actor: Anthony Hopkins, Dennis Boutsikaris, Joss Ackland, Julianne Moore, Natascha McElhone
Director: James Ivory
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
Running Time: 126 minutes
Release Date: 1997-10-21
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Studio: Warner Home Video

VHS Movie Reviews of Surviving Picasso [VHS]

Movie Review: the eyes of Picasso
Summary: 4 Stars

Francoise Gilot had two children by the great painter and
wrote an autobiography. Just because someone is a great singer, actor or painter
certainly doesn't mean they are going to be a nice person.
And ex-wives mostly don't paint their husbands as angels?
I have seen several of these movies about famous painters/ artists.
There seems to be one theme in common:
they are strangely driven people
who see the world through a different window
than ordinary people.
Many are manic in their intensity and mood swings.
Picasso was a crowd pleaser who just was more than all
for Picasso. Anthony Hopkins even tried to get that intensity in his eyes that
Picasso was known for: that glow.
There is little doubt that men
like Escher and Picasso have left us looking at the world differently.

Movie Review: A Warning for Animal Lovers - Animals were killed for this film.
Summary: 1 Stars

Like "Heaven's Gate", animals were killed for this movie. Stray cats were rounded up, secured so they couldn't escape and offered to an owl for take after take until the director was satisfied. You see one of them killed in graphic detail during the movie.

Movie Review: Excellent movie needs a DVD version!
Summary: 5 Stars

I have looked for this movie for years to come on DVD...but alas it hasn't happened yet. This movie, which is based on a book, truly shows what it was like to have to live (or 'survive' as you will) with someone who is egocentric and artistic. I don't understand why people wanted this movie to explain Picasso as a person...the title tell you its about someone who SURVIVED Picasso. This man didn't want to be understood. He didn't care about that so appreciate this movie for what it is, a great example of how someone can almost be 'swallowed' whole by another larger than life figure but who is able to transcend all that and stand on their own in the end. This movie has so many great aspects to it outside of the acting so I urge people to give this movie a chance because it is a fantastic journey from beginning to end.

Movie Review: Eleonore Austerer
Summary: 5 Stars

Wonderful film, outstanding performances on behalf of all actors and actresses, including Sir Anthony Hopkins. His looks and mannerism was so perfect that I forgot at times that I was not watching "Picasso in action".

While many facts shown in this movie are based on truth, we must not forget that the script was based on the novel by Arianna Huffington, who dared (in order to make a name for herself) interpreting Picasso's life by adding a heavy feminist slant. Yes, Picasso was eccentric as an artist and as a man, he was a Spaniard, born in 1881, in the most southern region of Spain (Andalusia) which was under Arab rule for centuries. Understandably, the mentality of a male of his generation is beyond Ms. Huffingtons' comprehention. But nevertheless, even though somewhat distorted by her overly feministic interpretation, "Surviving Picasso" it is an excellent, entertaining and historically speaking, worthwhile movie.

Movie Review: Why no DVD after all these years?
Summary: 5 Stars

When week after week you see some of the slop flipped to DVD quickly, it's surprising to me this interesting film is still VHS only. I disagree with some of the other reviewers- I think Hopkins did a great job at inhabiting Picasso's spirit. Did the film "explain" him? No- but Picasso was such an elusive complicated man, it's not entirely surprising. As when Hopkins did Nixon- sure, you don't totally forget it's Anthony Hopkins- but as with his Nixon, Hopkins is mezmorizing here. Hopkins said after playing men like in Remains of the Day who were basically dead from the waist down, he relished the opportunity to play a man who was completely alive- and his joy here is apparent. Beside Hopkins, Natascha McElhone is very intriguing, as are the rest of the supporting cast and the Parisian and Spanish locations. It's a Merchant Ivory piece fer cryin out loud- you KNOW the production values are always going to be rock solid. We'd like a DVD please!

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Summary of Surviving Picasso [VHS]

After their brilliant collaborations on Howards End and The Remains of the Day, director James Ivory and Anthony Hopkins reunited (along with producer Ismail Merchant and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala) for this controversial film about the life and loves of the great artist Pablo Picasso. Hopkins is outstanding in the title role, portraying Picasso as a brilliant, manipulative egotist who used his power over women to fuel his artistic impulse and voracious sexual appetite.

But Surviving Picasso is not intended to be a screen biography and, as many critics noted in mixed reviews, this 1996 film fails to provide any substantial insight into Picasso's complex personality. It's more about Fran?oise Gilot (Natascha McElhone), the aspiring artist who was one of the few women to "survive" Picasso's love and emerge as a stronger, more confident person with a life of her own outside of Picasso's often destructive sphere of influence. McElhone is impressive in this breakthrough role, conveying the seductive effect Picasso had on women, but also holding her own against the artist's unpredictable temperament.

Surviving Picasso was based on the unflattering book Picasso: Creator and Destroyer by Arianna Huffington, so the Merchant-Ivory team did not have the cooperation of Picasso's estate. The result is a film that shifts its focus away from the artist and onto his positive and negative effect on those who entered his inner circle. It's a fascinating portrait of a fascinating man and his equally passionate lovers, fueled by excellent performances. Even though you know you're not getting the whole story of Picasso's best and worst behavior, the movie grabs and holds your attention. --Jeff Shannon

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