Reviews

First of all I would like to comment on the other review - the author has a very little knowledge about the lives of Callas and Onassis and for that reason thinks that the film follows their story 'faithfully'. This film is based VERY loosely on the famous love affair of Callas and Onassis and it is a complete fiction. It may very well be entertaining for the viewers who know nothing about the protagonists but unfortunately these very viewers will remain with completely wrong ideas about them. I don't understand why didn't the makers of the film use fictional names since they had changed thoroughly the facts in the story.

I completely agree with the person who says that the 8,4 score is a joke. It is as false as the movie itself. I disagree with the other person on the account of the actors' performance, camera work, music, etc. The acting is so bad that I wanted to leave the cinema in the first few minutes. The actors recite their lines as if they were in some third class theatre play. Shopov utters his words with a pompous, almost tragic intonation but may be the worst is the actress who struggles with the English as well as with the lines in Bulgarian.

There are lots of shortcomings, I just don't know where to start. The script is not very good, there are lots of clumsy lines which make the job of the not very talented actors even more difficult. The music is quite obtrusive, non-stopping and plain annoying. The exaggerated, unnecessary camera movements increase the nausea, already present in the viewer. Bulgarian film makers don't understand that less is always more, especially when a real concept and ability is lacking.

When I say that this movie is false I mean that it gives an untrue picture of the life in Bulgaria. Yes, there are some affluent and even very rich people there but if you judge from the film only, it looks as if Bulgaria has reached and surpassed the life standard of Western Europe which of course is far, far from the bleak reality. May be this is one reason why many Bulgarian viewers like the film - it makes them forget the ugly apartments they inhabit, the run-down streets, the poverty, etc. In the film we see interiors looking as photographs in a furniture store catalogue, everything is overly coordinated and unreal, yet far from stylish. One of the couples in the film ate sushi which provoked some excitement from the audience, oblivious to the fact that they were eating the sushi with fork and knife! Another problem of the film is the product positioning - everybody seems to use the same type of computer and drink the same brand of whiskey. And the list could go on and on.

I think the biggest problem in Bulgarian cinema now is not the the lack of finance but the lack of real, original talent. The tendency is to make films which follow all the bad Hollywood clichés because the film makers think that in this way the movie will appeal to the Western audience. Wrong! Just look for comparison to the Romanian '4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days'.

I agree with the comments about the lack of truth in this movie, regarding the facts in the life of Modigliani. I would like to comment on the casting of Picasso. Some viewers are impressed with the actor; obviously they know nothing about Picasso and haven't seen his pictures. When I first saw the "Picasso" in this film I was so shocked and disgusted I wanted to quit and not watch it any more. (May be it was a good idea - I would've saved an hour or so). Picasso was nothing like this physically - he was athletic, robust, virile,oozing sexual power. He was Spaniard. Nothing like the greasy, obese, fat-nosed actor in the movie who looked more like an aged Middle Easterner with dyed hair (well, he is actually from Iran). To sum it up - regarding not only the casting of Picasso but the whole story - this is a very bad film, made by people who not only had no idea about the artists concerned, but they even had no interest to research the period, the place, the art scene. Their only concern was to make some easy dollar for the simple fact that most people have no information about Modigliani, his life and friends, and will take everything in the movie for a fact.

This is one of the worst films I have ever seen in my life, this is for sure. Picasso and Modigliani were spinning in their graves when this pretentious insult to their memory was made!

I saw this film about 10 years ago, when it first open in the UK. I was not impressed. Few days ago I decided to see it again - it took me 4 days to finish it! It is so dull and unnecessary long. I was shocked to read how many people here consider it to be "the best ever film"! Are they nuts?! I think they have no idea what a really great film is about. Someone even thinks it to be "De Niro's best performance". I think it's one of both De Niro's and Pacino's worst performances. Pacino especially is over the top, whereas De Niro is doing his routine, nothing more. The film is full of clichés, constant close-ups like in some TV soap opera, the music is the cliché Hollywood-epic-computer-generated-nonstop noise. All in all - I wasted 6 hours of my life. Don't waste yours, don't watch this movie.