PAINTERS AND FILMS

By: Kenji

Five Women around Utamaro (Mizoguchi)

Films about, or which show the influence of, painters. This list is a mix of drama biographies, documentaries and also.some fictions

Not on this site:

Oscar: The Colour of Destiny
What She Wants
Pop Goes the Easel
Rembrandt: Schilder van de Mens
Superartist
Richard Hamilton
L’Amour Monstre de Tous les Temps
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Kurosawa’s Dreams has a section with Van Gogh
Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro lighting appears cinematic, especially suited to film noir.
Tarkovsky’s Mirror has Brueghelesque images (Hunters in the Snow..), and Da Vinci paintings like Ginevra de Benci feature strongly.

Rembrandt’s Return of the Prodigal Son is imitated in Tarkovsky’s Solaris

Sokurov wanted Mother and Son to reflect the style of Friedrich.
Brueghel’s Procession to Calvary is brought to life in the Polish-Swedish film The Mill and the Cross
Vermeer paintings have influenced films like Spirit of the Beehive and A Zed and Two Noughts
Greenaway’s admiration for Rembrandt and Dutch art generally as well as Vermeer has been apparent in many of his films.
Renoir’s dad and the impressionists clearly influenced the film A Day in the Country, with its swing scene and summer boating (and Satyajit Ray, a great admirer of Jean Renoir, in turn has memorable swing scenes in Charulata and Teen Kanya).

Bunuel’s Viridiana has a famous frame based on Da Vinci’s Last Supper

Carl Dreyer’s admiration for Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershoi is reflected in his spare style

Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon refers to 18th century paintings, by Gainsborough and Watteau, and uses chiaroscuro with candles to memorable effect, reminiscent of De la Tour, Honthorst..
Dali collaborated with Bunuel early in the latter’s career, and with the dream sequence of Hitchcock’s Spellbound
Rosi’s Italian classic Salvatore Giuliano refers to Mantegna’s The Dead Christ in its image of the corpse (as Umberto L has pointed out in the forum thread “Our Favourite Paintings: The Great Auteur Gallery”)
De Chirico was an influence on surrealism.
Edward Hopper has been an influence on several directors, e.g Malick’s Days of Heaven, Leth’s New Scenes from America, Hitchcock’s Psycho

Days of Heaven also reminds of a famous Wyeth painting, Christina’s World

Edvard Munch’s Dance of Life reminds me of Carnival of Souls. Watkins’ bio of Munch is excellent.

Fellini Satyricon was influenced by Roman mosaics.
Lachim here has pointed to Friedrich in Herzog films like Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo; certainly the misty cliffs and forests, almost mystical closeness to nature and intrepid hero in Aguirre are Friedrichian (a subject worth further exploration). Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a fascinating documentary on prehistoric cave paintings in France.
La Belle Noiseuse is a rather different kettle of fish from other films included, the artist protagonist Frenhofer a loose updated version of Balzac’s novella The Unknown Masterpiece, which greatly interested certain artists, e.g Picasso.

The importance of Rubens’ Descent from the Cross to modern Japanese culture and a popular televised book , is explored in the Belgian documentary Patrasche, a Dog of Flanders.