"Jackson Pollock" A Review Of The Film
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Submitted by rustyc on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
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"Jackson Pollock" A Review Of The Film
Having read the comprehensive biography "Jackson Pollock: An American Saga" (Naifeh/White-Smith) within the last couple of years, I greatly anticipated the release of the Ed Harris biopic "Pollock". Something of a baby for actor/director Harris, "Pollock" joins the many filmic dramatisations depicting the life of a famous artist.
Indeed, one of the many problems facing Harris was what to leave out, considering the myriad of encounters and relationships Pollock engaged in within his protracted lifetime. Among the many individuals that drifted in and out of his life (his brother Sandy, Thomas Hart Benton, Clement Greenberg, Tony Smith, Peggy Guggenheim to name a few), Harris quite correctly chose to focus on Pollock's most significant personal and professional relationship, that of his wife and fellow artist, Lee Krasner.
The film begins shortly before the two meet (for, as it turns out, a second time) and the screenplay concentrates on the dynamic Krasner championing her "genius" partners ground breaking art (at the expense of her own art practice).
Marcia Gay-Harden, while not physically Krasner's double, nails the character of Krasner, who, in effect, becomes the guiding rudder of the aimless ship Pollock, who, up to that point in time, divided his time between binge-drinking, painting, and alienating those close to him.
The source of Pollock's pain is not made clear, either in the book or the film, and, perhaps thankfully, Harris did not feel the need to speculate cinematically on this point.
Perhaps the most compelling moments of "Pollock" (particularly for those of us who make art) are the scenes in which Harris actually does physically paint in the Pollock manner. One particular scene which markedly remains with me is Pollock's undertaking of the Peggy Guggenheim mural: Harris energetically commences the painting on a massive blank canvas in more than convincing fashion. This is a cinematic rarity in artist biopics, where...
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