Edvard Munch
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DVD details
Actor: Eric Allum, Geir Westby, Gro Fraas, Kerstii Allum, Susan TroldmyrDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Norwegian (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 210 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-21
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: New Yorker Video/Cinema Guild
DVD Reviews of Edvard Munch
DVD Review: A Master Painter Revealed
Summary: 5 Stars
Peter Watkins reveals the inner life of Edvard Munch in much the same way as Paul Cox reveals Vincent Van Gogh's in VINCENT.
Watkins' approach, though, is more sylistic. The flashbacks and the repetition, which may seem obnoxious at first, do have a purpose and have a cumulative effect. Eventually, one comes to understand in a profound way how Munch's family and romantic associations affected his art. One of the most profound revelations I had while watching the film had to do with Munch's famous painting, "The Vampire." Watkins suggests what may have influenced it; however Watkins allows the viewer to make the connection. Indeed, Watkins uses the strategy several times. My point is that one begins to understand the psychological underpinnings of Munch's art. Watkins doesn't rely on explaining concepts, techniques, or artistic movements the way many art historians and critics do. The result of Watkins' approach is startling and original.
In making VINCENT, Cox used Van Gogh's letters. I expected Watkins would draw heavily from Munch's journal, but he didn't. That is to say, Watkins didn't have a narrator read from the journal as a means of pushing forward or explaining the film. However, Watkins does reference the journal several times.
If you're looking for a straightforward documentary on Munch, this film may disappoint you. It's long and may seem fragmented at first. Only after sitting with the film a while does one begin to live inside it. In a sense, Watkins attempts to recreate Munch's inner life on screen, rather than simply telling the viewer about it.
Watkins' film is a work of art in itself, and, as such, defies conventions and expectations. It is, in the final analysis, unforgettable.
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Description of Edvard Munch
Famously described by Ingmar Bergman as a "work of genius", Peter Watkins' multi-faceted masterpiece is more than just a bio-pic of the iconic Norwegian Expressionist painter. Focusing initially on Munch's formative years in late 19th Century Kristiania (now Oslo), Watkins uses his trademark style to create a vivid picture of the emotional, political and social upheavals that would have such an effect on his art.The young artist (Geir Westby) has an affair with "Mrs Heiberg" (Gro Fraas), a devastating experience that will haunt him for the rest of his life, and his work is viciously attacked by the critics and public alike. He is forced to leave his home country for Berlin, where, along with the notorious Swedish playwright August Strindberg, he becomes part of the cultural storm that is to sweep Europe.
Positing itself as a live documentary filmed between 1884-1894, director Peter Watkins' experimental biography of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch(played by Geir Westby) is an angst-ridden glimpse into the traumatic political and social conditions that birthed Munch's invention of Expressionism. Tracing Munch's rise to infamy, the film begins in Victorian-era Christiania (Oslo), where Munch spent his formative years with a family plagued by disease. It then follows Munch to Berlin, where after studying Symbolism and befriending August Strindberg, Munch finds the impetus to create honest work that mimics his life rife with disconnect and rejection, despite scathing reviews by conservative art critics for his "nervous dissolving treatment of color." Plot-heavy scenes set in his studio and elsewhere are interrupted, as if by Munch's own obsessive memories, by shots of his lost true love, "Mrs. Heiberg" (Gro Fraas), accentuating the loneliness and longing Munch feels for this unattainable married woman. As the film's somber color palette alternates between black and blue, Munch's preferred "colors of death," Munch's interior thoughts are conveyed through Watkins' experimentation with sound and film. The sound made by Munch's brush scratching canvas is, at times, unbearably magnified, for example, and visual montages featuring close-ups of the artist's facial expressions elucidate Munch's disturbed emotional states and fragile nerves. The film's expressive qualities emulate the artist's stylistic approach to his art-making, making Edvard Munch an especially convincing artist's biopic. ?-Trinie Dalton
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