Film Review of the Week

Drama

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

Review: 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.

Action

Superman (12A)

Review: Opening with a lingering refrain of composer John Williams’ main theme, the latest reboot of the Man of Steel is a boisterous but bloated romp fashioned by Guardians Of The Galaxy ringmaster James Gunn to appeal to as many people as possible without truly delighting anyone. A menagerie of offbeat characters, including Krypto the dog, competes for limited attention between bombastic action-oriented set pieces that rely heavily on digital effects to pack a punch.

In the few scenes where Gunn turns down the volume and focuses intently on relationships under duress, such as beautifully expressing the pride that Clark’s “mushy” earthbound father feels for his boy, this Superman demonstrates how it might soar in the future with less world-building to shoe-horn into an overly generous 129-minute running time. David Corenswet’s embodiment of the Kryptonian orphan is wholesome and familiar, down to the single S-shaped curl of hair tumbling across his forehead, and there is a gently simmering screen chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan’s appealingly spunky and forthright Lois Lane. Nicholas Hoult’s duplicitous Lex Luthor is another slow burn.

Black holes that open at key junctures of the freewheeling narrative appear to have swallowed quality screen time for many of the super-powered players aside from the title character. Gunn pulls from his Guardians Of The Galaxy trick bag: combat sequences choreographed to a cacophonous soundtrack, a cute alien baby in peril, and a reluctant warrior hero, Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), with impressive prosthetics and facial make-up to aesthetically suggest an unholy alliance between Drax and Nebula.

It has been three years since Kryptonian refugee Kal-El (Corenswet) announced his presence as Superman, the most powerful metahuman on Earth. His childhood with adopted parents Jonathan and Martha Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell) in Smallville, Kansas, remains a secret to everyone except for his girlfriend, Lois Lane (Brosnahan). When Superman takes a unilateral decision to intervene in military aggression between Boravia and Jarhanpur, Lex Luthor (Hoult) seizes the moment to sow seeds of doubt about Superman’s intentions.

Luthor suggests his super-powered army, spearheaded by Ultraman and The Engineer (Maria Gabriela de Faria), should apprehend the Kryptonian before he meddles in other geopolitical matters. As global tensions rise and Lois works on a major story with Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), Superman receives questionable support from privately contracted metahumans called the Justice Gang, comprising Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced).

Superman delivers large-scale spectacle, covert romance and canine tomfoolery with a heavy hand, diluting the jeopardy so younger audiences won’t ever be fearful that the title character could succumb to his injuries or Kryptonite poisoning. Even a mass extinction event that dominates the messy final 20 minutes fails to get the adrenaline pumping. Corenswet copes effortlessly with the physical demands and looks commanding in close-up with a cape fluttering majestically behind him. Additional scenes in the end credits should have been jettisoned into deep space.