Klimt

(Austria/Germany/Great Britain/France, 2005; director's cut, 132 minutes; producer's cut, 96 minutes)

On his deathbed in Vienna in 1918, artist Gustav Klimt revisits his life and his infatuation with women. Diffuse, opaque fantasy on a real-life character that is most definitely not a biographical study, but more of an abstruse meditation on memory and inspiration; for fans of its director only. At the producers' request, Ruiz prepared a shorter cut of the film.

An Epo-Film/Film-Line/Lunar Films/Gemini Films production, in association with Andreas Schmid. Starring John Malkovich, Veronica Ferres, Stephen Dillane, Saffron Burrows, Sandra Ceccarelli, Nikolai Kinski. Directed and written by Raúl Ruiz, based on an idea by Dieter Pochlatko and Herbert Vesely; produced by Dieter Pochlatko, Arno Ortmair, Matthew Justice and Andreas Schmid; English screenplay adaptation by Gilbert Adair; music by Jorge Arriagada; director of photography, Ricardo Aronovich; production designers, Rudi Czettel and Katharina Wöppermann; costume designer, Birgit Hutter; film editor, Valeria Sarmiento.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Good news; Outsider Pictures is distributing this film in America in 2007.

I wouldn't say it's for "fans of its director only," but you shouldn't go expecting a conventional "biopic."

This film will appeal to people moved by the spirit of Klimt's work and for those who enjoy surreal films and approach it with an open mind. If you like what was done with Frida, then you might enjoy this take on Klimt.

You might want to research Ruiz a little before viewing this, to have a sense of how he approaches film--especially genre work such as "biopics"--how he breaks down conventions.
Anonymous said…
I quite like Salma Hayek and Julie Taymor's take on Frida, and I am familiar with other works by Ruiz (I love what he did with Proust on Le Temps Retrouvé) which is why I was quite disappointed in Klimt. It felt somewhat as if he was treading water, and having said that I do think that if you're not familiar with Ruiz this might not be the ideal starting point.
Anonymous said…
And the bad news is that they decided to go with the cut up version of the film! Why? Especially when so many who have seen the shorter cut say that it ruins the film. Even the UK DVD is the shorter 97 min cut up.

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