Klimt (2006)

A portrait of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt (Malkovich) whose lavish, sexual paintings came to symbolize the art nouveau style of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Director:

Raoul Ruiz

Writers:

Raoul Ruiz, Gilbert Adair (translation: English),

Stars:

John Malkovich, Veronica Ferres, Stephen Dillane

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Malkovich	...	Klimt
Veronica Ferres	...	Midi
Stephen Dillane	...	Secretary
Saffron Burrows	...	Lea de Castro
Sandra Ceccarelli	...	Serena Lederer
Nikolai Kinski	...	Egon Schiele
Aglaia Szyszkowitz	...	Mizzi
Joachim Bißmeier	...	Hugo Moritz
Ernst Stötzner	...	Minister Hartl
Paul Hilton	...	Duke Octave
Annemarie Düringer	...	Klimt's Mother
Irina Wanka	...	Berta Zuckerkandl
Florentín Groll	...	Messerschmidt (as Florentin Groll)
Miguel Herz-Kestranek	...	Dr. Stein
Marion Mitterhammer	...	Klimt's Sister

Storyline

A character study and a meditation on art in a time of opulence and syphilis. Gustave Klimt (1862-1918) lies in hospital, dying. In reveries, he recalls the early 1900s: it's fin de siècle Vienna. At the World Exposition in Paris, Klimt meets Georges Méliès, who does a moving picture for him, and Klimt falls under the spell of a woman who may be Lea de Castro. We see Klimt in his studio; we meet his mother and sister, who suffer from mental illness. We watch Klimt the libertine. On his deathbed and as a younger man, he imagines things as well: encounters with ministers and waiters and with women who are willing participants in his pleasures. Is this the source of art?

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Plot Keywords:

art nouveau | deathbed | artist | hospital | syphilis | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [at] (German, English, French) Official site [us]

Country:

Austria France Germany UK

Language:

English German French

Release Date:

3 March 2006 (Austria)

Also Known As:

A Viennese Fantasy à la manière de Schnitzler

Filming Locations:

Baumgartner Höhe, Vienna, Austria

Company Credits

Production Co:

Österreichisches Filminstitut, Filmfonds Wien, Eurimages

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min 131 min (director's cut) 97 min (producer's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References Frida (2002)

User Reviews

It's not movie about art but an artwork itself

This is surely one of the best movies about art I've ever seen. It manages to surprise on many different levels. It avoids completely biographical approach which is a main starting point for most movies of this kind of subject. Even paintings are very few to be seen. Instead, the movie concentrates on something, which is far more essential - the state of the mind of the artist. I was astonished how close the movie was to the feeling I have got from the paintings by Klimt. It also captures the special a kind of decadent flavor of the end of a historical (Austrian-Hungarian empire) as well as an artistic epoch. But it also captures something, which could be called the inner world of the artist and does it in a convincing and magnificent way. Therefore it far exceeds a mere depiction of the life and art of Gustav Klimt - it's not movie about art but an artwork itself. And it's an artwork which is very close to the artworks by the hero of this movie - dreamy and magical, exuberant and saturated with symbols.

The first time I saw it, it was a sheer pleasure for senses. The music is one of the best movie scores I've ever heard - full of references toward the works by Berg, Mahler and Richard Strauss, which contribute in a hypnotic way to the overall effect of this movie. But because the movie is so rich and full of connotations and details one cannot grasp by first viewing, it made me want to watch it many times more. And if somebody found it boring - sorry, but this says probably more about the viewer than about the movie.

10 out of 10