Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)

Biography of British painter Francis Bacon focuses on his relationship with his lover, George Dyer, a former small time crook.

Director:

John Maybury

Writer:

John Maybury

Stars:

Derek Jacobi, Daniel Craig, Tilda Swinton

7 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Derek Jacobi	...	Francis Bacon
Daniel Craig	...	George Dyer
Tilda Swinton	...	Muriel Belcher
Anne Lambton	...	Isabel Rawsthorne
Adrian Scarborough	...	Daniel Farson
Karl Johnson	...	John Deakin
Annabel Brooks	...	Henrietta Moraes
Richard Newbould	...	Blonde Billy (as Richard Newbold)
Ariel de Ravenel	...	French Official
Tallulah	...	Ian Board
Andy Linden	...	Ken Bidwell
David Kennedy	...	Joe Furneval
Gary Hume	...	Volker Dix
Damian Dibben	...	Brighton Rent Boy
Antony Cotton	...	Brighton Rent Boy

Storyline

In the 1960s, British painter Francis Bacon (1909-1992) surprises a burglar and invites him to share his bed. The burglar, a working class man named George Dyer, 30 years Bacon's junior, accepts. Bacon finds Dyer's amorality and innocence attractive, introducing him to his Soho pals. In their sex life, Dyer dominates, Bacon is the masochist. Dyer's bouts with depression, his drinking and pill popping, and his satanic nightmares strain the relationship, as does his pain with Bacon's casual infidelities. Bacon paints, talks with wit, and, as Dyer spins out of control, begins to find him tiresome. Could Bacon care less?

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Plot Keywords:

painter | burglar | nightmare | 1960s | lover | 

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Taglines:

Study for a portrait of Francis Bacon.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Strand Releasing

Country:

UK France Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love Is the Devil

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$63,202 (USA) (9 October 1998)

Gross:

$343,023 (USA) (17 December 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Malcolm McDowell was once interest for the part of Francis Bacon.

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Quotes

Francis Bacon: Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends.

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Connections

Referenced in Jubilee: A Time Less Golden (2003)

User Reviews

compelling character portrait

John Maybury's film presents artist Francis Bacon as an uncaring, disturbed, unhinged, genius who used people and life to feed his bizarre artistic talent. Even the way the film is shot (distorted images, odd angles, flashes of colour) shouts 'artist'. Against this backdrop the story of Bacon's life is secondary.

Derek Jacobi plays Bacon, in a radical departure from the work he is best known for - in fact, this film was completed while he was regularly on television as brother Cadfael. He is excellent in a deeply unsympathetic role. Daniel Craig, as his lover, nemesis, and muse, is also very good. Tilda Swinton is the best of a supporting cast of oddball characters.

This film is ultimately frustrating, difficult, and perhaps a pointless exercise as far as giving us any lasting impression of Bacon's character. But, like his well-known paintings, it is snatches of images you will remember.