Harris himself plays Pollock, magnificently I must add, and is able to relay to the audience the torment and burden, both physically from producing art and mentally through his alcoholism and borderline abusive tendencies, that Pollock battled throughout his whole life. In order to adequately prepare for the role, Harris partook in activities that the artist did every day, among some of the most noted being sleeping in the late artist’s bed, learning how to paint and even painting in the artist’s studio in Springs, East Hampton, New York, and smoking the artist’s preferred unfiltered Camel cigarettes. All of this preparation most certainly paid off, as Harris was able to portray Pollock’s character as closely to what the artist would have been like while he was still living as possible.

One of the most successful and engaging aspects for the audience was the portrayal of Harris painting in “live” action. This film strategy offered a realistic view of the what the process of creating may look like; Harris performing different techniques such as sketching, mixing paints, as well as the act of painting itself, could especially prove fascinating to an audience whom may not be otherwise familiar with them. These “live action” portrayals of Pollock painting in the film primarily began after the arrival of Pollock’s soon-to-be wife’ Lee Krasner, who is played by Marcia Gay Harden. The most powerful, though it may not have been the most realistic, representation of the creative and physical process of Pollock painting was when he was commissioned by the prominent art patron and socialite, Peggy Guggenheim, who is played by Amy Madigan. Pollock is depicted as being in a creative rut, coming up fruitless of both vision and of action, for weeks after the commission. Harris does a wonderful job of showing the frustration that the fruitless attempts caused and the tension between he and Krasner. At one point, Krasner threatened that if he did not produce soon, he would lose the commission. This prompted Harris to both literally and figuratively isolate himself in his tiny studio; just the blank canvas, paints and paint brushes, and himself being present. During this sequence, the filmmakers chose to depict Pollock as being almost lifeless; staring blankly into the distance for elapsed hours on end, while the seasons seemed to change outside through the windows behind him. This created a dramatic suspense for when creativity would strike him. There is, then, almost a definitive moment in which the light switch of vision and action flips on for Pollock. He sprung out of the chair in which he seemed to be bound to, and just started doing. He started to simply just paint. With a bucket of black paint and paintbrush in hand, Pollock started to fluidly and loosely, yet very purposefully and violently, cast the paint onto the canvas, not stopping, feverishly repeating the process fluidly with each color and detail, until he was left almost breathless, admiring his finished work. This sequence of standstill followed by abrupt rejuvenation and passion chosen by the filmmakers serves as a metaphor for the pattern of turbulence and instability of Pollock’s own personal life.

Perhaps the most realistic aspect of the film was the portrayal of Pollock’s personal relationship with his wife, Lee Krasner. The couple infamously had a turbulent, volatile, and sometimes abusive relationship with one another. Marcia Gay Harden, who plays Krasner in the Film, impeccably conveys to the audience Lee’s tremendous courage in her compromise of her own promising career and talent to foster and nurture Pollock’s visions, techniques, and brand of art as well as the nurturing of his soul, and as he exclaims to his mistress Ruth Kligman in the last fifteen minutes of the film, “I would be dead without her.” From the time Krasner entered Pollock’s life in 1942 until she left Pollock to travel Europe following Pollock’s extramarital affair with Kligman, she was portrayed as being Pollock’s biggest critic while simultaneously acting as his biggest supporter and admirer. In a notable scene within Pollock’s barn studio, after he had created his first splatter painting work, Krasner displayed nothing but utter admiration whilst gazing at the sensational work. Through exclaiming, rather breathlessly, “You’ve done it, Pollock. You’ve cracked it wide open,” she both praises Pollock, while also foreshadowing the fascination and obsession with Jackson Pollock, both as an artist and as a movement, that was soon to spread like wildfire beyond just the art community, spilling into popular culture outlets such as Life Magazine.

Some of the most powerful, emotional, and informational moments between Pollock and Krasner are presented, however, in their scenes of turmoil and conflict. When discussing the turbulent aspect of their relationship, it is important to reference two specific scenes in the film in which provide the most colorful scenes of violence and abuse. The first example occurs while the couple is in their farmhouse in Springs while entertaining guests. The scene involves Pollock, who was in an extremely drunken stupor, and art critic Clement Greenberg, who has always challenged Pollock’s work. Greenberg, who is played by Jeffrey Tambor, criticizes Pollock for having “too much blue” in one of his works, to which Pollock lividly storms out of the house, retrieves the so-called flawed painting, and marches it back into the house and aggressively places it on an easel, putting it on display for everyone to see. He angrily threatens to “fix” the painting to Greenberg’s “liking”, hurling profanities out of frustration, anger, and ultimately fragility, at everyone in the living room, including Krasner, who was trying to calm him. This scene is important because it shows Pollock’s volatile nature that would often lead to outbursts, as well as his sensitivity to critiques of his work. Throughout the film, he often spoke of how viewers of his work did not understand his purpose. At one point, in an interview with Life Magazine, he proclaimed, “If people would just look at the paintings, I don’t think they would have any trouble enjoying them. It’s like looking at a bed of flowers, you don’t tear your hair out over what it means.” Through the many similar interactions between Pollock and Krasner, reporters, journalists, critics, and comrades alike, the filmmakers are able to convince the audience that a movie about Jackson Pollock should depict all of the work and labor that goes into creating, not just strictly the art as a finished product. Additionally, they are able to convey that it was important to Pollock for his work to be seen not within a box of tradition or what was seen as “conventional”, but to see the art for what it really was; the art takes a life of its own and it should be interpreted as such.

The final catastrophic, blowout dispute between Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock in the latter portion of the movie very well may chalk up to be the most disturbing and intense moment in the entire film. It is apparent in this moment that Pollock appears to have fallen back into depression and alcoholism has once again claimed the sanity and serenity of the artist, as he is stumbling, hurling chairs and dishes into the empty space around him, and seething venomous insults at Krasner for not understanding him and for not wanting to have children with him, which ironically enough, earlier in the film he admitted to only wanting because it was what was “next in the sequence of life”. This was both Harris’s and Harden’s most dramatic performance in the entire film, being that the tensions between the couple were clearly maximized and had finally come to head. Though the behavior exhibited by Pollock was shocking and could evoke a certain sense of despair from the audience because it stirs a gut feeling that the artist may not escape from his demons this time, the most commanding behaviors were expressed by Krasner’s character. Throughout the entire film, Krasner’s character was courageous and bold, nevertheless she always was soft towards Pollock, yet in this precise scene, Harden was able to match Pollock’s fiery passion and viciousness through her own biting verbage and frenzied body language. This was a pivotal moment that transformed Krasner’s character from a devoted wife who took on her husband’s burdens as her own, to an independent woman who had reached her absolute limits of her own sanity. Portraying this moment from what was perhaps the ugliest time in Pollock’s life in an accurate and convincing manner was absolutely crucial for the filmmakers because it challenges the audience to view Pollock’s work for what it really was; a personality of its own, whether it was stable and light-hearted, or violent and capricious. Stepping up to the plate of the challenge, Harden and Harris executed their performances flawlessly.

Flashback to 1941 where the movie’s story officially begins. Jackson Pollock is living with his brother Charles in a tiny apartment in New York City doing more drinking than painting, that is until he meets Lee Krasner (played by Marcia Gay Harden) another abstract painter at the time. Lee is fascinated by more than just Pollock’s work she puts her career on the back burner to become Pollock’s companion, to help him stay off the booze and on the canvas. Lee also helps Pollock tremendously when selling his art she sets up meetings with Peggy Guggenheim and Howard Putzel, two world-renowned artists and art critics. Peggy Guggenheim offers Pollock his first one-man viewing at “Art of this century Gallery” on November 8th, 1943.Peggy also commissions Pollock to create an 8 by 20-foot mural for her townhouse giving him full artistic control.

Ed Harris does an amazing job directing “Pollock” but an even better job portraying the expressionist painter. The creation of the mural scene not only shows how brilliant an actor and director Harris is but how Jackson pulls abstract art from his head and strategically throws them on the canvas to create a masterpiece. Jackson struggles for weeks to find an idea that perfectly fits the canvas. Creating suspense the director cuts from Pollock’s eyes to the canvas then back to his eyes suddenly something clicks Pollock drops his cigarette and furious strokes of black paint fly up and down the white canvas. Pollock knows what he wants.

Throughout the entire movie, Jackson Pollock has been going through ups and downs from creating his mural and marrying Lee to not selling any paintings and binge drinking. Jackson Pollock died in 1956 from a drunk driving accident. This scene in the movie was tough to watch because you see Pollock struggling to stay sane and finally he just gives up. Jackson Pollock’s death was very tragic and a waste of so much talent. Pollock was forty-four years old when he died but he still had so much to accomplish, he could have created so many more beautiful abstract paintings. This is why his death is so tragic. The movie gives a good visualization of the abstract painter’s life with help from Ed Harris the director and leading actor I would give this movie a 5-star rating. If you are into dramatic movies with a great historical background it is a must watch.

In one scene a reporter from Life Magazine asked Jackson Pollock “Howdo you know when you’re finished with a painting? He then replied “How do you know when you’re done making love” I think this shows how truly insane he was.He was brutally miserable and made everyone around him miserable. A lot of Jackson Pollock’s bad times revolved around his alcoholism. In the movie he is noticeably happier during the period he stopped drinking. His alcoholism also led to his death in a drunk driving accident that also took the life of an innocent woman. I think this movie is more about the work rather then the art.Meaning it shows how much work he put into his artwork. It also shows how hard everyday life was for Jackson Pollock. There is a point made in the movie that it takes more for an alcoholic to get out of bed in the morning then it does fora normal person to go through their day. Pollock is sluggish and tired at most times in the morning suggesting he is hung-over.

The movie starts in post-war setting. You can tell because everyone is smoking cigarettes and the rent is very cheap. The time period matches perfectly with post World War 2. It even says in the movie Pollock was turned down from the military for being mentally unstable. Jackson Pollock is married to Lee Krasner who just happens to be an art critic. Many would say if she didn’t poke her head through his door his career would have never took off. Lee Krasner helped her husband land a meeting with a very famous art critic Peggy Guggenheim. He almost misses the meeting, showing his knack for just simply messing everything up. She is immediately impressed with his work. In the film it shows her pressing her hands against the paintings to see the temperature.

Jackson Pollock is a painter like most that had tremendous confidence in his work. In one scene where is he is painting a mural for Peggy’s town house he shows how confident he is in his work. This mural is truly amazing and was an earlier work of Pollock where he did not use is signature drippy action. In this mural he instead used a controlled swirl forum. Pollock uses a bunch of different vibrant colors but he makes it looks they are all one. The mural was 20 feet high by 8 feet high. Pollock initially thought the mural was too big. During the unveiling of the piece Jackson Pollock was bragging how good his art work was. He was wasted, he then walked over to the fire place and started urinating. Once again showing how bad his alcoholism was. Pollock uses surrealist abstraction in this work, which was the largest he ever made.

I think Jackson Pollock used his art to escape from his depression. His artwork brings him happiness. I think it brought him joy that his artwork brought others happiness. He could escape the everyday life and just get away and paint. His success was also his downfall.He became known for gloating about his work and telling everyone how great he was. In the movie he was very verbal about his hatred for Picasso but they have a lot of similarities with their depression. They both use Art to cope with their depression and both are considered the greatest of their respected generations. I do not know if Ed Harris can actually paint but he makes it appear that he can really paint and makes sure it is very historically accurate in showing how Jackson Pollock painted. He uses a progressing, doggedly form of brushstrokes. The film also shows his use of dynamic dripping and spattering. It shows how he paints with gradients and many vibrant colors.

I think this movie does a great job of showing the life of an artist in New York City in the 40’s and 50’s. There was not a true American art Star before Jackson Pollock and I think he did a great job of cementing his name as one of the great American painters. This was a time in New York with a lot of great artists with great ideas but Jackson Pollock is truly remembered more than all of them.