Stills from Bohemian Rhapsody
Films about artists are more acceptable to the public than lengthy biographies. In recent years, biographical films have become more and more popular, such films condense art into films, easy to understand without losing their beauty, and narrow the distance between people and art.
The recent release of "Bohemian Rhapsody" has triggered a wave of nostalgia. As a musical biographical film, it dramatically tells the rock saga of Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury. Actor Rami Malek also won best actor at the 91st Academy Awards for the film.
Stills from the bohemian Rhapsody movie
Freddie Mercury is not a familiar artist for domestic audiences, and the charm of art films is that even in the face of unfamiliar artists, the general public can quickly accept and understand their stories. It brings art to life and brings it closer to the distance between art and the public.
These kinds of films either record the story of the artist or introduce the art genre. Through innovation in the way of telling, composition, color grading, etc., while retaining the uniqueness of art, ordinary people can also understand art.
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"From Film to Biography"
The boundaries of art films are blurred. Some people have a misunderstanding of art and think that art is obscure. In fact, art can also be very simple, it can bring people a beautiful experience, and the task of this type of film is to convey this concept. In the eyes of people, artists are always a little "abnormal", if they cannot reflect this uniqueness in the film, then they can only be reduced to ordinary drama films.
Movie poster for Van Gogh
The same artist or genre can be told from many angles, with more than 20 films featuring Vincent van Gogh alone. From the animated short film Van Gogh in 1948 to the first official biographical film in 1956, Van Gogh, to 2017's Beloved Van Gogh, each introduces the great artist to the public from a different perspective.
Stills from the van Gogh movie
Van Gogh is best known for his oil paintings, and the way his work is presented in films is often to directly show the painting or the painting process, and "Beloved Van Gogh" breaks this traditional pattern. As the world's first full-oil painting animated feature film, it fully embodies the artistry while retaining the story, interpreting the artist's life with paintings. The whole work is like a flowing art gallery, showing the artist's life from a unique perspective.
In the movie Beloved Van Gogh, every scene is a deformation of Van Gogh's painting.
It is also very important to reflect the personal style of the artist in the biographical films of the artist. It can be reflected in both the rhythm of the plot and the composition of the picture. The film "Mr. Turner" tells the story of the British painter Joseph Turner who indulged in the life of creation. The entire film, whether it is composition or color grading, is based on the artist's painting style, so that the viewer can subtly understand the style of Turner's work, and with the development of the storyline, they can more thoroughly understand the artist who is obsessed with creation.
Stills from the "Mr. Turner" movie, the picture of this film is brilliantly colored, and the warm picture is very similar to Turner's painting style.
Most films are guided by a main line, but artists are often multi-faceted, their lives and creations may be very different, and what aspects and how to embody them in the film are the test of the director. Painter and director Derek Jarman used two parallel timelines when filming Caravaggio's biographical film. One focuses on the artist's carnival, creation, love and other warm and vivid aspects; the other shows the artist's struggle in the face of illness and death.
Caravaggio movie poster
The two threads are relatively independent and intertwined, and the film subtly shows the conflict between reality and creation in the artist's life. "Art is the opposite of life" is a portrayal of the artist's life. The whole film is like a work of art, the picture has both the texture of an oil painting and the rough style unique to Jarman.
Stills from the Caravaggio movie
Group portraits are also the expression methods often chosen by such films. Several representative artists of the same genre or period are presented simultaneously in one work, in order to comprehensively express the theme. In this type of film, the artist is no longer an independent individual, and the connection and cooperation between each person is particularly important. Such techniques can often produce the effect of "1+1>2", so that the audience has a macro understanding of the theme.
Abstract: The Art of Design episode poster
Netflix's "Abstract: The Art of Design" is a representative of this kind of group portrait film, which is hailed as the pinnacle of its documentary work. Its success is not only because of its rich content, but also because of its ingenious design: through the combination of editing techniques and visual effects, the stories of designers from different fields are harmoniously integrated. It is this artistic expression that sublimates this work.
Stills from Abstraction: The Art of Design
"More than an Artist's Life"
Biographical films can not only pay tribute to the artist by introducing his life, but also from the perspective of artistic creation. The artist's creative process is also an important part of his work. Rather than a flat, straightforward real-time recording, the creative process of editing using different artistic techniques is easier to substitute the audience and understand the artist's creative state of mind.
Picasso's Secret movie poster
The Secret of Picasso turns the painter Pablo Picasso's painting process into a "thrilling" suspense film. The artist is always black and white in his films, and all the colors are reflected in his work. The film turns every step of Picasso's creation into the storyline of the suspense drama, and every pen and coloring touches the audience's heart.
Stills from the Picasso Secret movie
The audience can only constantly guess and wait. The theme of the picture can change at any time, a flower first becomes a fish, then a beauty, then a rooster, and finally a shepherd. Part of the reason Picasso is called a genius is precisely because of the rich connotations of his works. After the filming of the film, Picasso destroyed all the works created during this period, which made the film even more precious.
Unlike the creative process of a series of works shown in "The Secret of Picasso", "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" focuses on the story behind the world famous painting of the same name.
Jan Vermeer, The Girl with the Pearl Earrings, oil on canvas, 44.5×39cm, 1665
Although the story itself is conceived by the reverie of the painting, this does not prevent people from liking it. Every frame in the film is like a landscape painting, and the strong colors and delicate emotions make people can't help but fantasize about the artist's creative scene.
Stills from the film "The Girl with the Pearl Earrings"
The use of plot rhythm to reflect the creative process is a characteristic of this type of film, but most of these are created on the basis of their works and interviews and other materials. When the artist himself shoots his own biographical film, the artistic expression effect will be more direct, and this kind of film is more like a work of art, reflecting the artist's personal point of view.
Dream movie poster
Akira Kurosawa looked back on his life at the age of 80 and filmed the movie "Dream". He covers almost all the problems of human life with eight themes. There is no complete plot in the film, only independent fragments. Akira Kurosawa takes the viewer into his dreams with wonderful colors and soothing long shots. The story looks easy to understand, but it also makes it more intriguing after repeated speculation.
Stills from the Dream movie
"Movies are just a microcosm"
A film can be as few as tens of minutes as many as a few hours, and in such a limited time, only one aspect of art can be expressed. But it can pique the interest of the audience and lead people to further understand art.
Filming scenes from the Picasso's Secret
The film Camille Claudel in 1915 shows the life of the artist Camille Claudel after leaving her lover, the sculptor Rodin. At this time, Camille suffered from severe persecutory paranoia, and in the days when she was treated in the mental hospital, she both longed for affection and warmth, and was afraid of contact with people, and finally died depressed.
Movie poster for Camille 1915
In the film, the flowers and trees are sunny, but Camille is always in the shadows. The film's success lies in the fact that it portrays an artist ruined by the times and prejudices, rather than a crazy psychopath. While lamenting what happened to him, the viewer will want to learn more about the artist.
Stills from the 1915 Camille movie
The camille seen in the film is repressive, but after seeing her work, you can feel the artist's love for life and creation. Her brother described her as an artist who "kept researching and working." Camille's work is extremely tense, and through the sculpture you can feel the warm, sunny side of the artist.
Camille Claudel, Sculpture, 1905
This "one-sided" approach to showing the artist is the "careful machine" of the film. Showing the greatness of an artist in the most unique and shocking experience is more eye-catching than summarizing the artist's life in general.
The artist's biopic is not a textbook of all aspects, the film is only a means of guiding people to pay attention to art, it can only take the audience to glimpse a part of the artist. After watching the movie, everyone can get to know the artist in depth and further feel the art.
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[Editor, text/Zhang Xintong]
[This article was originally produced by Harper's Bazaar Art Department and may not be reproduced without permission]