Stanley Tucci's Final Portrait, about an episode in the life of Alberto Giacometti, has none of these elements. FINAL PORTRAIT is the story of the touching and offbeat friendship between American writer and art-lover James Lord and Alberto Giacometti, as seen through Lord's … It reminded me of a few of my friends who are artists. FINAL PORTRAIT is one of those rare and unflinching SUPER REALISTIC movies about making great art and about the very rare and exceptional way of life that a famous artist in the Paris of the 1960s had. It's 1964 Paris. Greetings again from the darkness. Final Curtain was a television pilot written and directed by Ed Wood in 1957. The specific locale is an art studio at 46 Rue Hippolyte Maindron. Loved the film, it is definitely not for everyone, as an art student it was rather interesting to see an artists process of making a painting. I think Sylvie Testud as Annette Giacometti really stole every scene she's in. The time is 1964. Even some of the supporting players here, maybe the other Giacometti for example, have better material here. With a running time of 90mins, unless, 'Less-is-More' for you, this may be a rather thin and boring experience & probably would have been far better as a short or featurette. It is curious to see their crises, their insecurities and dissatisfactions in the act of creating. Go check out this little fairly underseen work. Did it get a Cinema release ? 8 Free Family Portrait Studio, Season 8 (7.7) There will always be debate as to how season eight holds up against the rest of the series , but the finale, while poorly-rated, managed to get the series back on track for its final … This movie is about the artistic process, and the collaboration in that process. However, Final Portrait lets us sit with his subject and ingest the cranky chaos that has already bred world-wide fame.While his wife Annette Arm (Sylvie Testud), is in attendance, the artist carries on at length with a delightful prostitute, Caroline (Clemence Poesy), goes to dives, disrespects money, chain smokes, and generally acts like the Bohemian he is. Too neat, too clean, too cautious and basically just painting by numbers. I figured that by the end of the picture something would happen to explain why this story was being told, what the protagonist would have revealed to him other than an onslaught of schmoozing, name-dropping and "posing" (pun intended). Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Was this review helpful to you? But it can also be, funny, exasperating and sad. I suspect, if we knew James Lord, we were find that Mr Hammer's performance is spot on, just less spectacular befitting a more amiable personality. But they stolidly strive on, with a burning eye or an assertive stride. Stanley Tucci adapted James Lord's memoir and directs this vantage into the life of one of the great artists of the last century - Alberto Giacometti. The paradox is that the artist is so effusive in his life but makes such sucked-in, suppressed, creatures in his art. In the 1960s, renowned artist Alberto Giacometti requests for the writer James Lord to become the subject of one of his portraits… Exposed to the elements, he must survive the dangers of the desert and battle the psychological and physical tolls of the treacherous conditions. Giacometti lives that flamboyance, overriding conventions of art, morality, marriage, social niceties, in compulsive assertion of his self. Although in the '60's I knew famous artists could live in hovels, I never imagined the way Alberto Giacometti (Geoffrey Rush), the famous sculptor/painter, lived. This artist is the brilliant Swiss/Italian painter/sculptor Alberto Giacometti. The process, Giacometti assures Lord, will take only a few days. As Homer Simpson might say about some of his own TV episodes "It's just a bunch of stuff that happened." FINAL PORTRAIT is the story of the touching and offbeat friendship between American writer and art-lover James Lord and Alberto Giacometti, as seen through Lord’s eyes. Final Portrait leaves the viewer with the feeling that he or she might as well have caught it on TV. Probably a storytelling technique was in place in the original book that doesn't quite work as a movie. With very little in the way of plot, action, even events, the film's focus is on characterizing Giacometti. Filming took place over a week and a half and CGI was used to make it look like Paris. It is a quieter, but no less stellar performance. The film recreates Giacometti's studio which teems with recreations of his work. Instead of the sweeping gesture or challenging extremity, Diego quietly fiddles with things, turning out stuff of value and beauty without any major claims for it. Geoffrey Rush is such a uniquely talented performer that I wouldn't hesitate to walk into any of his projects with little hint as to the subject matter. When things take an unexpected turn, the channel proves to be her saving grace - or perhaps it was the origin of the problem all along. Anyway, even for somebody with zero interest in painters this was an interesting film. If you enjoy watching paint dry this is your film. I can't confirm Rush's portrayal is accurate but I'll defer to his professionalism and personal research. Centers on the friendship between American writer and art-lover James Lord (Armie … And for a movie about a great painter and sculptor, this is not a recommendation. Everyone in Giacometti's life suffers one way or another, including his wife and remarkably patient brother Diego who, as Alberto's studio assistant, manages to shrug off his frustrating waste of time, talent and money. Geoffery Rush puts himself in the running for an Oscar with this brilliant portrayal of an irritating genius. If only you could repeat it, to improve it.... And unless you count a television documentary episode, this is his first work in both field in a decade (since 2007). … Rate : 7/10 His figurative skeletons barely sustain their fragile presence in the antipathetic universe. Final Portrait (2017) Trivia (6) Add new London doubled for Paris in the film because they couldn't afford to film in Paris. On this theme the film establishes a pointed contrast between Alberto and his artist/designer brother Diego. Geoffrey Rush fidgeting away as Giacometti, should have stayed at home. In Final Portrait, his grimy Parisian first-floor apartment is strewn with famous spindly-limbed sculptures amid broken pottery and glass with an easel on which he paints a portrait of his friend, James Lord (Armie Hammer).I am usually critical of stories about painters because these biopics rarely give insight into the artistic process (Girl with a Pearl Earring, Frida, and Pollock among my favorites, but disappointing that way), concentrating rather on the dynamic personal life. A lonely art expert working for a mysterious and reclusive heiress finds not only her art worth examining. In 1964, while on a short trip to Paris, the American writer and art-lover James Lord (Armie Hammer) is asked by his friend, the world-renowned artist Alberto Giacometti (Geoffrey Rush), to sit for a portrait. He knows the other major artists of his day, of course, but in his own mind and conversation jockeys through gossip to maintain his superiority. Get Final Portrait DVD and Blu-ray release date, trailer, movie poster and movie stats. You don't have to be of the Me, Too generation to be offended by this. A simple well written and perfectly acted story of an artist and his need to create and make that creation perfect to his liking. A strong cast brings life into this rather tedious and repetitive tale - but the material, though interesting, becomes indulgent. FINAL PORTRAIT is the story of the touching and offbeat friendship between American writer and art-lover James Lord and Alberto Giacometti, as seen through Lord's eyes and revealing unique insight into the beauty, frustration, profundity and sometimes the chaos of the artistic process. I would recommend it to artists and people who are interested in creative process of making an artwork. That there are people that may have problems with this brilliant portrayal of an irritating genius is shadowed by genius! 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