I enjoyed this film for the atmospheric scenes of bohemian Paris just after WWI. I did not take the recreation any more seriously than the time travel series on TV where the characters find themselves in the Paris of the 20's and run into Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, cocteau et al every time they set foot in a bar or turn a corner. Before the film began there was a statement that it was fiction based on real people and events; therefore those who complain about it not being an accurate biography of Modigliani have missed the point - no one ever said it was! My main problem with the film was Andy Garcia, who was around 15 years too old, too well fed and nowhere near as handsome as the real Modigliani. He simply did not have the Italian charm combined with dazzling good looks which would have been catnip to women. Not only was Garcia too old for the part, he can't act, and his haircut hanging in greasy strands over his face would turn off any woman.
Another jarring note was that as baby Jeanne was born a few days after the end of WW1 and has not yet been baptised, something the Catholics do within few weeks of the birth, we must assume that the Modi and Jeane meet up again in 1918; however, there is no sign of Paris recovering from the terrible devastation of the war. Modigliani died two years later in 1920 and the film would have us believe that the intervening two years were one long party. From where did the starving artists get the money to buy their booze, let alone drugs? Finally, the structure of a little boy, Amadeo as a child? acting as his conscience was irritating and should have been scrapped. I would enjoy watching an accurate biography of Modigliani should someone care to make one.
Another jarring note was that as baby Jeanne was born a few days after the end of WW1 and has not yet been baptised, something the Catholics do within few weeks of the birth, we must assume that the Modi and Jeane meet up again in 1918; however, there is no sign of Paris recovering from the terrible devastation of the war. Modigliani died two years later in 1920 and the film would have us believe that the intervening two years were one long party. From where did the starving artists get the money to buy their booze, let alone drugs? Finally, the structure of a little boy, Amadeo as a child? acting as his conscience was irritating and should have been scrapped. I would enjoy watching an accurate biography of Modigliani should someone care to make one.