Edward Munch
Munch is my favorite painter and his paintings, I feel, speak volumes. But I was very apprehensive of watching a biopic (Edward Munch - Directed by Peter Watkins) of his life. I believe, the task of revealing a person to you is quite onerous, requires a huge amount of responsibility and skill. No matter how careful you are, your own biases might make you inadvertently play up something that was inconsequential to him or otherwise. Plus how people actually behave might be very different from the art they create. And I have always liked to keep the exact lives of the artists I really like in a fuzz, because the details of their life might reveal personas and imperfections, which I am scared might take away from or maybe dilute my perspective of the beauty of their work. And, not to forget to mention, the movie runs to about 3 hours and there is not too much patience in me that I can draw on.
In the end, I am glad I added the movie to my queue, glad I moved it to the top of the queue and glad I overcame all of the above thoughts to decide to watch it before I returned it back. The movie focuses not on detailing the story of his life but detailing the influences on him that shape his work. Much like his paintings, it brings to the fore these influences and the confusion and nervousness that surround him and blurs away the superficial nitty-gritty which might take away from the theme. It gives depth and understanding to his paintings. And though I do agree it might not be the most accurate description, it is an interpretation that preserves the impression of Munch one get from his paintings. The movie is pieced together like a stream of consciousness. For the most part, this worked admirably well in creating an image in one’s mind. The movie also incidentally sheds light on the society and the radical ideas that were germinating in Europe at the turn of the last century. And though some of these ideas were pompous and preposterous, it made me sort of lament the absence of such intellectual and creative fervor in the present age. But then maybe, I am just not at the right watering-holes at the right times...;).
In the end, I am glad I added the movie to my queue, glad I moved it to the top of the queue and glad I overcame all of the above thoughts to decide to watch it before I returned it back. The movie focuses not on detailing the story of his life but detailing the influences on him that shape his work. Much like his paintings, it brings to the fore these influences and the confusion and nervousness that surround him and blurs away the superficial nitty-gritty which might take away from the theme. It gives depth and understanding to his paintings. And though I do agree it might not be the most accurate description, it is an interpretation that preserves the impression of Munch one get from his paintings. The movie is pieced together like a stream of consciousness. For the most part, this worked admirably well in creating an image in one’s mind. The movie also incidentally sheds light on the society and the radical ideas that were germinating in Europe at the turn of the last century. And though some of these ideas were pompous and preposterous, it made me sort of lament the absence of such intellectual and creative fervor in the present age. But then maybe, I am just not at the right watering-holes at the right times...;).
posted by Champa at 12:26 PM
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