Les amants de Montparnasse

Released as a love letter to both the artist Amedeo Modigliani and the spirit of Montparnasse, Montparnasse 19 reverberates with the raw emotions of creativity and the tempestuousness of artistic existence. In this evocative narrative, the audience is transported to a world where the struggle for artistic expression collides with the fragility of life and love.

Within the dimly lit cafés and cobblestone streets of Montparnasse, Modigliani's tortured genius comes to life through the brilliant performance of Gérard Philipe. His portrayal captures the artist's paradoxes-his insatiable passion for his craft and the demons that wrestle within. Philipe breathes life into the artist's tempestuous relationships, including that with Jeanne Hébuterne, portrayed with delicate grace by Anouk Aimée, whose presence provides a poignant counterbalance to the turbulence of Modigliani's life.

Director Jacques Becker's meticulous attention to detail recreates the heart of Montparnasse's vibrant art scene-a scene teeming with eccentric characters, from painters to poets, each struggling to find their place in the world. The artistic fervor envelops the audience, inviting us to witness the intertwining threads of passion, inspiration, and sacrifice that weave the lives of these vibrant bohemian spirits.

Montparnasse 19 stands as an evocative testament to the eternal tug-of-war between art and life. Like Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast and Charles Aznavour's La Bohème, it captures the essence of fleeting moments, of laughter in the face of adversity, and the melancholy that accompanies the passage of time. This film invites us to experience the intoxicating blend of love, art, and existence; and pays homage to the dreamers, the creators, and the eternal pulse of bohemian life.

First, the re-issue is excellent; the Centre National de la Cinematographie has really done a fine job of restoration of the negative. The black and white values come through very well.

I suppose Gerard Philipe was the natural choice to play Modigliani, but I wasn't as impressed by his work here as I had been by Les grandes manoeuvres or Les orgueilleux: there's a routine quality about his acting here that I hadn't seen before. Anouk Aimee is very beautiful, and manages to infuse her portrayal of Jeanne Hebuterne with some life. Gerard Sety as the lifelong friend Zborowsky, Lilli Palmer as the wacky English mistress, and Marianne Oswald as the gallery owner all contribute fine performances. I don't care about how the picture was made--the lawsuit and everything else--just about the results.

Every generation sees or thinks it sees things differently from previous generations; this film shows yet again that bohemian boorishness and temperamental talent is and was nothing new. If you're seen to be an Artist also being a fascinating penniless perpetual drunk yob can be acceptable, that troubled spirit is sometimes the price of Genius. Amedeo Modigliani was an Italian artist who died at 36 of TB in France, the almost impossibly handsome Gerard Philipe who played him here died the year after the film also at 36 of cancer, and director Max Ophuls died before production started – it makes this French-Italian co-production especially poignant.

The story follows the last period of Modigliani's life about 1919, after he met and fell madly in love with fellow artist Jeanne Hebuterne, their trials, tribulations and tragedy. It's all done very well, definitely not as the elegant Ophuls would have done it (witness those clumsy tracking dancing scenes) with good black and white photography and great acting: basically no problems with any of it. However the end of the film was very different to the reality and bearing in mind it was fairly frank anyway I can't understand why the truth was jettisoned at the climax. Did Modigliani's daughter object? What actually happened was incredibly sad, brutal and even incomprehensible but still would have made more sense than the end to the film did. It turned a study in romance into a lesson in sordidness.

But never mind, it was still an interesting journey into an Artist's troubled mind and life and the joy and pain he brought to those around him. I wouldn't hang one of Modigliani's hideous paintings up in my house unless I was paid a lot to; I prefer the film – because Beauty is either in the eye of the beholder or the owner.

the temptation to see the film as one about Gerard Philipe is not small. and, in a way, it could be the basic motif for admire it. because it seems be a film for his admirers. a last word, testimony /legacy of great art. the close up, the dialogues, the reactions of Amedeo Modigliani are easy to define the last years of his interpreter. because, except that, "Les amants de Montparnasse" gives the same picture of damned artist, ignored by his contemporaries, single against the love story, fragile, vulnerable, strange. of course, a good recipes for public success. but, maybe, not the best. and this does it a homage to an unique French actor. and the beginning of the end of an age of cinema.

In 1919, the painter Amedeo Modigliani spent the last year of his life. He lived in abject poverty in the Parisian artists' quarter of Montparnasse. This is the story of the film by French director Jacques Becker (1906-1960), who created such masterpieces as TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI (1954) and LE TROU (1960).

Modigliani (Gérard PHILIPE) is kept afloat by Anna Zbirowska (Lila KEDROVA / OSCAR 1965: ACADEMY AWARD for ALEXIS SORBAS) and her husband, and his gallerist Berthe Weill (Marianne OSWALD) also tries hard to find buyers for his paintings. But it's simply not enough. The handsome Modigliani also has to accept payment for his sexual services from the British writer Beatrice Hastings (Lilli PALMER / GOLDEN GLOBE 1960: nomination for BUT NOT FOR ME). The only bright spot in this messed-up situation is his tender love for the young Jeanne (Anouk AIMÉE / OSCAR 1967: nomination for UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME). But the path to self-inflicted ruin seems inevitable. Or could the interest of the art dealer Morel (very diabolical: Lino VENTURA) bring the longed-for salvation?

Jacques BECKER took on this commissioned directorial role as a replacement for his idolized Max OPHÜLS. Becker apparently got along well with the leading actor Gérard PHILIPE (1922-1959), but he apparently rejected his style of performance. Becker couldn't have prevented such a major French film star as Philippe from appearing, even though it completely contradicted his style of filmmaking. This is certainly evident in the film, but Becker has turned it into the eternal drama of a misunderstood artist (the complete opposite of Philippe), who can only be "recognized" by the audience after his death.

The wonderful Lilli Palmer (1914-1986) plays her small role superbly, as always. The lack of dubbing makes it possible to discover today what was cut from the film for West German audiences at the time. At the very beginning, the writer played by Palmer ends up in bed with the main character and is seen again after the act. Seeing the crowd-pleaser Palmer in such a compromising situation was probably too much for West German audiences to bear at the time. Bygone days!