Who talks about talent? A friend once sent me a picture of Cy Twombly’s Untitled, asking, “Tell me, is this art?” When you think about the truth of creativity, you involuntarily think about what is art and what is not. Where is the framework beyond which it is considered to be drawn by childish babble, and not talent and genius in their pure manifestation? The answer is simple: none. For me, art is something that could touch the depths of consciousness, draw emotions from the human soul - awe, fear, admiration, surprise ... no matter what. Emotions are diverse, and art is diverse. People are diverse – their attitude to a particular type of art is diverse, and therefore its acceptance.
In the center of the picture Terry Zwigoff "Advertising for Genius" / Art School Confidential (2006), shot on the comics of Daniel Close, the problem of becoming an artist, assessing his talent and creativity, the truth of recognized art as such is considered. At the very beginning of the film, Professor Sandyford (John Malkovich) tells the students:
Do not be deceived by unrealizable desires. If you want to make more money, you better drop everything and go to a banking school or a web design course – anywhere but an art school. And remember: only one in a hundred will make a living by painting.
So it is, only here the main character Jerome (Max Minghella) does not agree with the strange reality built in the film: highly appreciated incompetent, in his opinion, work, and his talent does not find a response, and he struggles with this unrealizable inner desire to be recognized as a genius like Picasso.
And he's recognized. Not for his talent, humanity or sincerity in his works, but for his outrageous expression of art in destructiveness, in frightening works aimed at agitating the masses. At first, Jerome tried to “sing in his own voice, using other people’s vocal data”, and then put his identity to the public at the expense of other people’s criminal works, and curiously – successfully. But does a genius need such recognition when it is insignificant and consumer?
The formation, if I may say so, of the main character in artistic activity during the film is intertwined with an unremarkable love story and a criminal storyline. But for me, the film is more of an ironic satire, consisting in a certain absurdity of modern painting: artists seek to put themselves forward with the help of shocking, scandalousness, rather than their own talents, a world of art in which consumerism comes first. The sad state of things.
The film is certainly worthy of attention. For excellent acting, an interesting approach to revealing a rather original idea, suitable camera work.
6 out of 10