Pollock (Special Edition)

Pollock (Special Edition)

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DVD Reviews of Pollock (Special Edition)

DVD Review: Jackson Pollock
Summary: 3 Stars

* The scene where Pollock was walking into his studio (right before he discovered his unique style of painting), proved interesting in terms of cinematography. The shaking, hand-held camera technique was used to symbolize the entering into a more personal aspect of Pollock's life. It was also used to make the viewers look like they are the ones walking into the studio as Pollock.

* Another good cinematographic scene was the one when Pollock was being filmed through a glass pane. This is a good frame-within-a-frame shot. This camera shot symbolized Jackson's "entrapment" of "feeling like a phony." This is also a good visual composition technique (mentioned below).

* Other good techniques included the low-angle shot of Pollock when he upset the dining room table. This shot gave Pollock a superior and powerful look, making the other actors in the room feel dominated, controlled, and at his mercy. It also symbolized him losing control of his painting and his life. Yet another good technique was when Jackson discovered his unique style of painting. The camera seemed to flow gracefully as it followed Pollock while painting. This symbolized Pollock's artistic, majestic flow as he painted, which is something that he lacked prior to his discovery.

Overall, the cinematography was pleasing, as it sometimes made the viewers feel what Pollock was feeling as he painted, whether it is grace or lifelessness. It built suspense in scenes such as the one where the camera followed Krasner down the hall. Finally, it did a decent job in making Pollock feel trapped while not being able to paint freely in the scene when he was behind the glass pane.

Visual Composition

The visual composition of the film has a few notable characteristics. One notable scene in the movie where visual composition plays a big role is, again, the scene where Pollock upsets the dining room table. In addition to the low-angle shot (mentioned above), the frame is dynamically unstable (not-balanced) in that there is no center focus. Pollock is off to the right of the frame, while the others are clustered on the left. This gave Pollock a strong sense of territoriality. More space was given to him when he upset the table. The fact that he controlled the left side of the frame while everybody else shared the right symbolized that he was, indeed, in control.

A final noteworthy scene to discuss in terms of visual composition was the scene where Pollock discovered his unique style of painting. The medium shot of Pollock staring at the canvas (off to the left of the frame) while holding his paint brush in his right hand (which was centered in the middle of the frame). This established the paint brush as being the center focal point, thus creating heavy visual weight on the brush, and thus attracting the viewers' attention to it as the paint dripped off the brush and onto the floor.

Overall, the visual composition does a decent job in bringing attention to certain objects and creating dynamically unstable scenes to display power and geometry. It also does a good job in switching between open and closed form styles. When Jackson discovers his unique style, the film does a good job in symbolizing his freedom through the use of open form techniques such as allowing the camera to follow him wherever he goes, as opposed to symbolizing his confinement through the closed form technique when he struggles with his paintings.

Interpretive Evaluation

Overall, based on these technical evaluations, the film does a nice job in succeeding in entertaining the audience. It makes good use of cinematography and visual composition that visually describes the type of atmosphere (i.e.-depressed atmosphere while Jackson struggles with modern art and a happy, self-fulfilling atmosphere when he makes his discovery). The cinematography also does a good job in letting the viewers know who was in control in certain scenes through the use of a variety of angled shots and dynamically unstable balances. A combination of these effects with the performances of actors like Harris and Harden makes this film standout from other artist based films that I have seen.

Description of Pollock (Special Edition)

In many respects a traditional biopic, Pollock begins in 1941 when Pollock meets Krasner, who encourages him and attracts the attention of supportive critic Clement Greenberg (Jeffrey Tambor) and benefactor Peggy Guggenheim (Amy Madigan). As Pollock rises from obscurity to international acclaim, Harris brings careful balance to his portrayal of a driven creator who found peace during those brief, sober periods when art brought release from his tenacious inner demons. The film offers sympathy without sentiment, appreciation without misguided hagiography. As an acting showcase it's utterly captivating. As a compassionate but unflinching exploration of Jackson Pollock's intimate world, there's no doubt that Harris captured the essence of a man whose life was as torturous as his art was redeeming. --Jeff Shannon