The Mystery Of Picasso (1956) ***1/2
Henri-Georges Clouzot's film The Mystery Of Picasso (1956) is as equally mesmerizing as it is an exercise in patience. Essentially a 78-minute visual document (with some footage of the man himself) of Picasso painting, where special transparent "canvases" were used to portray the act of the creative process from the view of the painter.
This experimental technique had been done in a similar, but slightly different fashion, in a shorter documentary called Visit To Picasso (1949), but Mystery really capitalizes on the concept, adding a more cinematic quality—the majority of the film is presented in the Academy ratio of 1.37:1, but expands to CinemaScope 2.35:1 for the last 20 minutes—augmented by a varied and frenetic score by Georges Auric.
What's most fascinating about Mystery is when Picasso makes changes to his paintings, adding lines or colors, transforming them through on-the-fly choices—and being able to see that in basically real time. In particular, a painting of a beach scene goes through so many drastic changes that it's almost comical. While I can't say that any great mystery is revealed, the film is still an interesting bit of history and one that predates the era of YouTube demonstrators.
This experimental technique had been done in a similar, but slightly different fashion, in a shorter documentary called Visit To Picasso (1949), but Mystery really capitalizes on the concept, adding a more cinematic quality—the majority of the film is presented in the Academy ratio of 1.37:1, but expands to CinemaScope 2.35:1 for the last 20 minutes—augmented by a varied and frenetic score by Georges Auric.
What's most fascinating about Mystery is when Picasso makes changes to his paintings, adding lines or colors, transforming them through on-the-fly choices—and being able to see that in basically real time. In particular, a painting of a beach scene goes through so many drastic changes that it's almost comical. While I can't say that any great mystery is revealed, the film is still an interesting bit of history and one that predates the era of YouTube demonstrators.
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