With the trauma of the Amber Heard court case behind him actor Johnny Depp has got back behind the camera for the first time in almost 30 years since his directorial debut with 1997’s The Brave. Here the subject is the artist Mogdiliani or Modi to his friends. It’s easy to see Depp’s attraction to the subject though originally this was a project that Al Pacino who had sets his eyes on the role many years ago and he does pop up momentarily here as art collector Maurice Gangnat who was as much of a patron to Modi than the film leads us to believe.
With a secondary title of ‘Three Days on the Wing of Madness’ it is set in 1916 several years before the artists premature death but before this the film begins in a slapstick opening that sees him run around a restaurant where he works drawing portraits crashing through tables, trolleys and eventually a window before he’s chased down the street by the resteraunteurs with obvious nods to the slapstick films of the time as the scene switches to under cranked monochrome for the chase.
But this is something of a rug pull to what follows as the three days of madness follows Modi and his two artist friends Chaim Soutine (Ryan McParland) and Maurice Utrillo (Bruno Gouery) themselves partial to the odd tipple or two or three or four or five or in fact as much as they can chuck down their neck in extended bar crawls. But as they live and work and drink together each is plagued with their own issues. But for Modi his issues are multiple: drink & drugs further aggravated by his unappreciated genius and an on-going affair that’s as off as often as it is on with writer Beatrice Hastings (Antonia Desplat) as WW1 plays out in the background and he is haunted by a vision of his own death. Not an easy role but Riccardo Scamarcio maintains a balance between laddishness and sympathy.
Depp shoots Modi’s scene of creation with a degree of reverence that he holds for many artists most notably the genius Ralph Steadman in the 2012 documentary, ‘For No Good Reason;’ There’s a fair bit or artistic licence taken with Modi’s story that been adapted from a 1979 play by Dennis McIntyre and in fairness to the screenwriters the film is more about evoking a time in the artist’s life rather than an historically accurate time line. Something of a free spirit Modi was an artist with a disdain for the money men and had penchant for drink and drugs and the the appeal of the artist as a subject for Depp is obvious after his own court case rather too publicly revealed many of his own demons. Having been directed in front of camera by the likes of Terry Gilliam, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Mann, Roman Polanski and especially Tim Burton his retreat to behind the camera suggests there is even better to follow.
related feature : Johnny Depp stars in ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’ – DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
related feature : Freddie Fellowes takes us behind the Secret Garden Party with ‘That was a Serious Party’ documentary
We chatted to actor Riccardo Scamarcio about working with Johnny Depp on the film…
We chatted with actor Bruno Gouery about working with Johnny Depp on the film…
Here’s the Modi trailer…..
The post Modi – Three Days on the Wing of Madness – REVIEW appeared first on Any Good Films.
from Any Good Films https://ift.tt/reJ4NWL
