The Mystery of
Picasso is the English title of a French documentary film that premiered in
1956. The French title is Le Mystere Picasso. It was released on DVD in 2003.
Here is some basic information about it:
** Produced and
directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot (1907-1977)
** Camerawork by
Claude Renoir (1913-1993)
** Musical score
by George Auric (1889-1983)
** Run time: 1
hour and 14 minutes
In this film about
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) we get to see the famous Spanish artist at work. How did this
happen? Picasso allowed the director and his team to enter his studio and shoot
a film while he was working on a number of paintings.
A special canvas
was created for this project: while Picasso was working on one side of the
canvas, a camera was recording every stroke of the brush from the other side of
the canvas.
At first the
paintings are only in black-and-white. But later Picasso also uses colours.
Sometimes the brush is moving on the canvas: it is like a movie. Other times we
go step by step: it is like a slide show.
The process is
highly compressed. What takes just two minutes in the film, took maybe two
hours in real life.
In this film we
get to see the creation of some 20 original works by Picasso. Many motives are used.
Several paintings are about bull fighting, which is a popular event in Spain
and the south of France. Most of the works that were made for this film were
later destroyed. Today these paintings only exist in the film that was made in
1956.
Most of the time
we see only the canvas on which the artist is working. But there are a few
variations. There is a moment when we see Picasso himself while he is working
on a painting. There is another moment when we see the director and his team
discussing a technical aspect of the film. Towards the end of the film there is
a moment when Picasso talks about the painting he has just completed. He is not
happy about it. He wants to try the same motive one more time.
The dialogue is in
French covered by English subtitles, but apart from a brief introduction, few
words are spoken during the film. It is all about the paintings. And there is
no need to talk about them.
The music plays an
important role. For each painting there is a piece of music. The man in charge
of the musical score, George Auric, tried to capture the mood and the
atmosphere of each painting. That is why there are several types of music in
this film.
When the film was
shown in theatres in 1956, it was not a big hit with the public, but it won the
Special Jury Prize at the 1956 Cannes Film festival. Many critics like it: on
IMDB it has a rating of 79 per cent; and on Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of
83 per cent. Both ratings correspond to four stars on Amazon.
I have mixed
feelings about this film: on the positive side I will say that it is an
interesting and captivating film which offers a unique chance to see this
famous artist at work. On the negative side I will say that there are too many
examples here. The first examples are fine, but after a while it tends to get a
bit boring. Too much of the same.
If you ask me, the
positive points are just as strong as the negative points. And therefore I
think this film deserves a rating of three stars.
*****
The French poster for the film
*****
A clip from the film: Picasso at work
*****
Another clip from the film: Picasso and the film crew
*****
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