Modigliani: Three Days On The Wing Of Madness (15)

Bohemian Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani inhabits the streets of war-torn 1916 Paris, where he is on the run from the police. Fellow creatives Maurice Utrillo and Chaim Soutine and his muse, Beatrice Hastings, dismiss Modi's suggestions that he should leave the city. Instead, he seeks advice from his art dealer and trusted friend, Leopold Zborowski. Modi's mental state spirals out of control until he encounters American collector Maurice Gangnat.

LondonNet Film Review

Modigliani: Three Days On The Wing Of Madness (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Dedicated to rock musician Jeff Beck, Johnny Depp’s second feature film in the director’s chair is an unconventional and stylistically chaotic biopic of the bohemian Italian painter and sculptor, who died penniless and underappreciated at the age of 35 in 1920 in Paris and never witnessed the rapturous response that is now lavished upon his work. Modigliani: Three Days On The Wing Of Madness is certainly never dull…

In an eye-catching opening sequence that epitomises the film’s free-spirited approach to structure and tone, Riccardo Scamarcio’s struggling artist causes a commotion among upper class diners with his boorish antics. Police intervene and the lavish and colourful cinematography worthy of a handsomely crafted period drama is abruptly usurped by black-and-white silent movie slapstick and a sped-up chase on foot worthy of an episode of The Benny Hill Show.
Whether audiences will want to stay with the director for the entirety of this madcap 108-minute road trip is debatable.

Depp performs many spontaneous gearshifts during his muddled meditation on the creative process over the course of 72 hours in war-torn 1916 Paris, adapted by screenwriters Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Kromolowski from Dennis McIntyre’s stage play Modigliani. A meaty confrontation between Modi and an influential art collector, played with scenery-chewing gusto by Al Pacino, energises the second hour and forcefully hammers home the title character’s disdain for a critical establishment that wields undue influence over whether art is deemed worthy and, thus, commercially valuable.

Amedeo Modigliani (Scamarcio) has a “minor disagreement with a stained-glass window” at a respected Parisian cafe and narrowly avoids arrest. The sickly artist seeks refuge at the lodgings of writer and muse Beatrice Hastings (Antonia Desplat) but she turns him away. Fellow artists Maurice Utrillo (Bruno Gouery) and Chaim Soutine (Ryan McParland) encourage him to join them for revelry at the local tavern. Art dealer Leopold Zborowski (Stephen Graham) implores Modi to remain in the capital for two more nights so he can meet with influential collector Maurice Gangnat (Pacino), who wields considerable power in his pocket. Modi begrudgingly obliges and as night bleeds into day and air raid sirens echo across Paris, Modi’s mental state unravels at the frayed seams.

Modigliani: Three Days On The Wing Of Madness flits between introspection and delirium, shot through the bloodshot eyes of the title character as his pent-up frustrations explode in wilful self-destruction. Depp’s sympathies clearly lie with Modi, perhaps echoing his own creative struggles in music and on film, but he doesn’t make it easy to stay on board with his disjointed vision. Patience is severely tested. Were it not for Scamarcio’s fearless lead performance, I might have admitted defeat.

– Jo Planter