Director: John MayburyStars: Derek Jacobi, Daniel Craig, Tilda Swinton
Year: 1998
Rating: N/R
Seeing full-frontal nudity of Daniel Craig, years before he would become James Bond, was reason enough to check out this film. I just wish I knew, now that a few days have passed, whether I actually liked it or not. There's no doubt about the strength of Jacobi's mesmerizing performance as the painter Francis Bacon; he's disturbing, masochistic, hedonistic, and self-indulgent (much like, supposedly, the real Bacon). And Daniel Craig, aside from being easy on the eyes, also does impressive work here as the sullen crook/con artist George Dyer, whom Bacon took in as both lover and muse for a time.
The two meet when Dyer breaks into Bacon's grubby flat, and is immediately discovered - and invited to bed - by Bacon. George moves in from there, more or less, and his relationship with Bacon over the course of the film goes from the sublime to the ridiculous; Bacon seems to need George as his sadistic, almost abusive lover one moment, then does nothing but devalue and humiliate him (Bacon doing so, often, in front of his creepy, mean-spirited circle of friends) in public. The film doesn't concentrate so much on Bacon's work as an artist, even as it went during the time the two men were together, as he does the destructive love story of the two men - one of whom only gets stronger and more famous even as he seems to suck the very life essence from the other. Director John Maybury does a good job of shooting the film in distorted imagery and colors, the film as abstract and gloomy as one of Bacon's paintings - and while this style works for the films subject, it would also have a way of putting off many viewers; it's just so ... odd.
In short, the film captures the mood and aura of Bacon's odd life and work - but here that's both a good and bad thing. Technically, the film works and fits perfectly as a portrait of this segment of Bacon's life, but somehow it just didn't come together for me overall. The performances are wonderful (even from an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton), but (for me, anyway) the film was just too odd to really enjoy. ** - Reel Mediocre
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