http://www.imdb.com/list/ls053492692?ref_=rls_2

• Moliere (2007) Imprisoned for debt, playwright Molière is rescued by an aristocrat who needs his help in order to seduce a young marquise.

I was not convinced that Moliere was such a person as depicted in the movie. None of it seemed realistic enough to believe. The idea I got from the movie: sometimes you are good at what you hate to do and success comes to you by doing what you don’t want to do. Does it mean that giving up one’s dreams he/she might become more successful and appreciated?

• Pollock (2000) A film about the life and career of the American painter, Jackson Pollock.

The movie unsurprisingly depicts an artist to be a problematic person with inner demons and needs someone who takes care of him/her as communication with other people and practical tasks create unsolvable issues. If not for Lee Krasner, Pollock would be unknown and all his creations most probably forgotten.

• Vincent & Theo (1990) The familiar tragic story of Vincent van Gogh is broadened by focusing as well on his brother Theodore, who helped support Vincent. The movie also provides a nice view of the locations which Vincent painted.

The relationship that seemed more interesting to me was not the one between Vincent and his brother but between Vincent and Paul Gauguin. Was it purely platonic or partly homosexual? Obviously this relationship caused Vincent to cut off his ear. I do not think he was entirely mad, he tried to convince himself he was more insane than he actually was because in that way he got from people the attention he either craved or despised. The movie did not show if Vincent had any real understanding of what he was doing in painting. It seemed a quite unconscious use of colours and painting objects while his drawing was definitely aimed at improving himself and used for self-development.

• Basquiat (1996) Basquiat tells the story of the meteoric rise of youthful artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

He is shown as person who was stubborn enough not to change his style for anyone but at the same time too stupid to survive in the world. Complete disconnection between actions and logical senses, heightened by trends of the time (drugs, parties, bohemian lifestyle). He did not seem to be especially talented or understanding of what he was doing and why. He managed to become famous because people were tired of the existing art and his works were fresh and interesting for them with a short attention span as they did not convey any deeper meaning. The persona of Andy Warhol was however very interesting, he himself was more interesting than his works.

• Surviving Picasso (1996) The passionate Merchant-Ivory drama tells the story of Francoise Gilot, the only lover of Pablo Picasso who was strong enough to withstand his ferocious cruelty and move on with her life.

Just like in the movie about Pollock, Picasso was not able to deal with life without practical help although he was completely goal oriented, he knew what he wanted and what he did not want. He did not always tell people about his real thoughts or wishes, he seemed to go through life as if there is no obligation, no responsibility “after me only the flood of water”. He treated people like objects and seemed to find strange pleasure in seeing their emotional struggles, probably he found it inspirational. Many creative people from the Soviet Union felt pressure to join the Communist Party otherwise they would face threats, obstacles and no real chances of success. Picasso joined the Party not out of pressure but out of logical considerations. For him everything was a game except art.

• Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998) Biography of British painter Francis Bacon focuses on his relationship with his lover, George Dyer, a former small time crook.

Bacon’s art came right from his inner world which was full of contradictions, secret desires, possibly perverted ideas, confusion. Part of that came from his relationship with his lover who seemed to be mentally traumatised. Bacon’s works leave extremely uneasy feeling, they seem aggressive in content and made aggressively, they look like someone has tried to fight with the canvas and kill it. A person who looks in the mirror and sees distorted reflection of himself and the whole world. Art that leaves a mark which is more like a scar or slash with a knife.