Finding My Way Around the Mystery of Picasso
Let’s start by saying that one would die to know what was on Picasso’s mind. In the movie Mystery of Picasso at the opening we see Mr. Pablo Ruiz Picasso sitting down on a chair looking to a certain direction as he smokes a cigarette. In this movie by Henri-Georges Clouzot, which also includes stop-motion and time-lapse photography, we get to experience first-hand what goes through Pablo Picasso’s mind when in the process of painting. The whole film is set in Picasso’s studio and we see him draw and paint many times on one canvas as he changes from one subject to another.
As a viewer I was able to see what goes through this man’s mind as he sketches. It is amazing how he starts with a line and all of a sudden, it is a whole human or animal like figure. As you enter into the world of Picasso in this film, you will feel confused and wonder whether he is done or not, but that is how he tricks you. By simply putting a few lines on a canvas with black ink he makes you believe everything is the way you see it, but the finish product is always something you do not expect. As I went into this movie, at first, I thought it was boring. At most times I was even outraged because I would have never considered his work to be art whatsoever. The beginning was a bit hard to watch but as I kept on watching I saw and felt what he was thinking and observed his work become better over time. His work also showed me parts of him that you wouldn’t know by just looking at him but mostly by asking him.
The movie is more of a documentary showing Picasso drawing, allowing us to watch his thought process evolve over time. The choice in music made it suspenseful and intriguing as to what was going on, was there going to be trouble, what is he going to paint next, is it going to be crazy or simple. I personally liked the parts in which the director and Picasso have full ongoing conversation about what is going on, making it seem more normal and real, like if nothing is staged. The movie also cuts to scene’s where you see Picasso work and prepare his ink before each shot.
Although the film itself was humdrum, after each painting I would want to watch more and more, satisfying my curiosity. Like I said in the beginning of this review, you never know or understand a painting unless you see it fully from its thought process to the final product, and that is what this movie mainly focuses on. Watching this movie made me feel calm and had me very deep in thought. After 30 minutes into the movie I got tired and told myself that I was not going to watch anymore, mainly because I was disgusted by the idea that this man was a very well-known artist. I actually however, went back to the movie and finished it because my curiosity of what he was going to paint next bothered me.
It is hard to believe that this is the type of art that has been admired throughout the 20th century and up to today. But it is even harder to understand where the influence for this work came from, and what is the meaning behind it. It took me a while to at least have a little understanding through this movie of the significance of this type of art in general. The movie did its job in helping me understand this artist and his work by showing him painting from beginning to end. His work also showed me parts of him that you wouldn’t know by just looking at him but mostly by asking him. Overall, I think this is a good movie, if you are looking to understand Picasso’s work better or simply to understand what was going on in the art world around the 20th century and see what was being admired around this time, you should watch this movie. I think people admire Picasso’s work because it is different and very confusing, making you want to dig deeper into its meaning and how he did it. This type of work does not really put everything simple for you, instead it makes it harder because there are things underneath and there are different elements put into it that make it more fun and daring. I liked the movie, but I am still not very fond of Picasso’s work. I personally think that there are other artists in the world who have more interesting works than Picasso, the works that were painted in the movie mainly show women completely nude, either sitting down or standing at a distance from somewhat nude men watching them as if they were an obscene object. But I did more research and found some of his artworks that I was very fond of. From 1 to 10, I rate this movie a 7, because it really represented the artist well and made me understand his work a little more. I took 3 points off because I was not very interested in the pieces of art that the artist painted in this movie.
