Final Portrait with Clémence Poésy

Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Armie Hammer, Clemence Poesy

Director: Stanley Tucci

Writter: Stanley Tucci

Classification: M

Running time: 90 minutes A Final Portrait

 

Adapted from James Lord's memoir -A Giacometti Portrait'

 

In 1964, while on a short trip to Paris, the American writer and art-lover James Lord is asked by his friend, the world-renowned artist Alberto Giacometti, to sit for a portrait. The process, Giacometti assures Lord, will take only a few days. Flattered and intrigued, Lord agrees.

 

So begins not only the story of a touching and offbeat friendship, but, seen through the eyes of Lord, a uniquely revealing insight into the beauty, frustration, profundity and, at times, downright chaos of the artistic process.

FINAL PORTRAIT is a bewitching portrait of a genius, and of a friendship between two men who are utterly different, yet increasingly bonded through a single, ever-evolving act of creativity. It is a film that shines a light on the artistic process itself, by turns exhilarating, exasperating and bewildering, questioning whether the gift of a great artist is a blessing or a curse.

Final Portrait

In Australian cinemas nationally OCTOBER 5, 2017

Trailer

 

Interview with Clémence Poésy (Caroline) for Final Portrait

 

I've really loved Giacometti's work for so long that I thought making a film about that particular aspect of him was a brilliant idea; and the prospect of being in the atelier seemed lovely. Caroline met Giacometti and started posing for him, and I think they both fell in love with each other.

There's a really beautiful sentence at the end of the book I was reading [about Caroline], -Le Dernier Modèle' by Franck Maubert , where she says that she was his démesure, which in French is anything bigger than life. That's what I'm trying to keep in mind.

Geoffrey Rush was also one of the reasons why I really, really wanted to come and spend a few days on the set - just to get to watch him work. And it's been great. It's magical to see him get into Giacometti's shoes every day. It was lovely working with Armie; it's a lovely cast, it really is. The dynamic between the two of them is quite funny.

Stanley does seem to want things to go quite fast so it's great - it means you're in and out of the studio really quickly. And he's enthusiastic when he has to be, and quite clear when he needs something changed. He just finds a way to keep up energy levels on set all the time, which is essential in this film, so that it doesn't become about someone sitting for a portrait. He's very attentive to the amount of movement and energy and liveliness that there is on set.

The first day we entered the studio and saw all these works, and all the details, it was kind of magical. I think there's something so amazing about recreating this little piece of time and space somewhere completely random and when it is full of the copies of my favourite sculptures ever, it's even better. I always found it fascinating to try and understand what happens in someone's mind when they're creating, because really, an artist just invents a world of his own. And how that works and comes about, and what makes you an artist, I always found was one of the most intriguing, the most fascinating subjects to research and look at.

 

Final Portrait

In Australian cinemas nationally OCTOBER 5, 2017

Trailer