Surviving Picasso

Surviving Picasso is a 1996 Merchant Ivory film directed by James Ivory and starring Anthony Hopkins as the famous painter Pablo Picasso. It was produced by Ismail Merchant and David L. Wolper. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's screenplay was loosely based on the biography Picasso: Creator and Destroyer by Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington.

Surviving Picasso
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJames Ivory
Produced byIsmail Merchant
David L. Wolper
Screenplay byRuth Prawer Jhabvala
Based onPicasso: Creator and Destroyer
by Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington
Starring
Music byRichard Robbins
CinematographyTony Pierce-Roberts
Edited byAndrew Marcus
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
September 20, 1996
Running time
125 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$16 million[1]
Box office$2 million[1]

Plot

The young Françoise meets Picasso in Nazi-occupied Paris, where Picasso is complaining that people broke into his house and stole his linen, rather than his paintings. It shows Françoise being beaten by her father after telling him she wants to be a painter, rather than a lawyer. Picasso is shown as often not caring about other people's feelings, firing his driver after a long period of service, and as a womanizer, saying that he can sleep with whomever he wants.

The film is seen through the eyes of his lover Françoise Gilot (Natascha McElhone). As the producers were unable to get permission to show the works of Picasso in the film, the film is more about Picasso's personal life rather than his works, and where it does show paintings, they are not his more famous works. When Picasso is shown painting Guernica, the camera sits high above the painting, with the work only slightly visible.

The film depicts several of the women who were important in Picasso's life, such as Olga Khokhlova (played by Jane Lapotaire), Dora Maar (played by Julianne Moore), Marie-Thérèse Walter (played by Susannah Harker), and Jacqueline Roque (played by Diane Venora).

Cast

Production

The film was shot in Paris and southern France.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 32% based on reviews from 19 critics.[2] On Metacritic it has a score of 55 out of 100, based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[3]

References
  1. "Surviving Picasso (1996) - Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com.
  2. "Surviving Picasso". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media.
  3. "Surviving Picasso" – via www.metacritic.com.
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