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

Director:

John Maybury

Writer:

John Maybury (written by)

Release Date:

7 October 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

Study for a portrait of Francis Bacon.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Painter | Francis Bacon | Burglar | Pill | Drinking

Awards:

7 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

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	...	Blond 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

Also Known As:

Love Is the Devil (France) (UK) (short title)
Ai no akuma (Japan)
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (USA)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK | France | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Several of the extras, including Daniel Farson and Sandy Fawkes, were real-life acquaintances of Francis Bacon.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jubilee: A Time Less Golden (2003) (V)

Ruthless, peculiar, heart-drenching, fascinating.

Love is the Devil is amazingly rich in character and visuals. Just like Bacon's paintings, it is abstract, provocative, dark, and cruel, yet intensely mesmorizing. Maybury couldn't have picked a better actor than Derek Jacobi to portray the very disturbed Bacon. Jacobi is so good, I wondered whether this was just acting or the real thing. One of my favorite scene was Bacon grooming himself, using ammonia cleanser to brush his teeth and curling his eyelashes with his saliva. Neither could I ever forget the countless enigmatic facial expressions Jacobi delivers. One of the best films I've seen in years.