Producing a biographical film, particularly about an artist, without forcing a simple relationship between the artist’s life and their paintings, can be tedious. It is imperative for filmmakers to adequately represent the artist as a living, breathing, human being who works, and not strictly a chronicle of their art, or conversely, using art to chronicle their lives. Ed Harris’s film, “Pollock”, which first debuted in theaters in 2000, manages to avoid most of the pitfalls and clichés of many other films of its genre.
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
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
