Tropicana Magazine Sep-Oct 2018 #120: Art As Life

CULTURE | BOOKS
MOVING PALETTES
From artist studio to the cinema, five famed painters get the big screen treatment.
FRIDA [2002]
Under the direction of Julie
Taymor, Salma Hayek proves
her depth and range in the
title role of 20th century
Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo.
Despite lifelong pain following
a horrific accident and being
wed to an unfaithful husband,
Frida refuses to live life on
the sidelines. Bursts of vibrant
colours and vivid settings
capture Frida’s unfettered
approach to life, and Hayek
beautifully captures the
melancholic but extraordinary
life of the late artist, creating
an unflinching portrait of her
soul as visually arresting as the
famed artist’s iconic works.
Starring: Salma Hayek, Alfred
Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Ashley
Judd and Antonio Banderas
BIG EYES [2014]
Tim Burton steps away from
the macabre for a moment
to tell the story of Margaret
Keane’s feminist struggle
for recognition in a maledominated
domain. She is
best known for her enigmatic
paintings of doe-eyed
children in the early 1960s,
and Amy Adams puts in an
outstanding performance for
her portrayal of the talented
housewife-artist who must
battle her husband first for
artistic freedom and then for
authorship over her work.
Christoph Waltz plays the
domineering husband Walter
Keane, a salesman and fraud
who takes credit for her work.
Starring: Amy Adams and
Christoph Waltz
GIRL WITH A PEARL
EARRING [2003]
A sumptuous melodrama,
‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’
speculatively reveals how the
most beguiling paintings of
17th century Dutch painter
Johannes Vermeer came to be.
Forced by sudden poverty to
become a maid in the wealthy
Vermeer household, Scarlet
Johansson plays Griet, the
young maid who captivates
Vermeer enough to become
his secret still life subject.
Vermeer, played by Colin
Firth, isn’t the only man taken
in; his wealthy patron is too
and commissions a painting of
the young woman in order to
become closer to her.
Starring: Colin Firth, Scarlett
Johansson and Tom Wilkinson
VINCENT & THEO [1990]
Robert Altman directs this
beautifully filmed biopic of the
Van Gogh brothers, Vincent (Tim
Roth) and his equally tragic art
dealer younger sibling Theo (Paul
Rhys). The movie touches on the
darkest aspects of Van Gogh’s
tortured existence, his twisted
passion, increasing madness and
the intense relationship with Theo,
who died a mere six months after
Vincent, lonely and destitute,
took his own life. Breathtaking
scenery and impressive visual
effects, like a painting brought
to life, shimmer throughout the
telling of this poignant tale of love
and compassion between the two
inextricably entwined brothers.
Starring: Tim Roth, Paul Rhys and
Adrian Brine
CURATED BY PAMELA D’CRUZ
Our Pick...
MR. TURNER [2014]
This film details the complex and conflicted life of British painter J.M.W. Turner, whose daring
landscapes sent shockwaves through the art world during the 19th century. The audience meets Mr
Turner after the passing of his father and chronicles the various relationships that he cultivates and
destroys in his later years. All through this, Turner – played by Timothy Spall – ventures, paints,
stays with the country aristocracy, and is both celebrated and reviled by the public and royalty. Mike
Leigh’s film aptly fills the screen with artistic and utterly breathtaking cinematography not unlike
Turner’s own artistic orchestrations.
Starring: Timothy Spall, Paul Jesson, Dorothy Atkinson and Marion Bailey
TM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
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