Surviving Picasso

Plot

The young Françoise meets Picasso in Nazi-occupied Paris during the, where Picasso is complaining that people broke into his house and stole his linen, rather than his paintings. It shows Françoise being beaten by her father after telling him she wants to be a painter, rather than a lawyer. Picasso is shown as often not caring about other people's feelings, firing his driver after a long period of service, and as a womanizer, saying that he can sleep with whomever he wants.

The film is seen through the eyes of his lover Françoise Gilot (Natascha McElhone). As the producers were unable to get permission to show the works of Picasso in the film, the film is more about Picasso's personal life rather than his works, and where it does show paintings, they are not of his more famous works. When Picasso is shown painting Guernica, the camera sits high above the painting, with the work only slightly visible.

The film depicts several of the women who were important in Picasso's life, such as Olga Khokhlova (played by Jane Lapotaire), Dora Maar (played by Julianne Moore), Marie-Thérèse Walter (played by Susannah Harker), and Jacqueline Roque (played by Diane Venora).

Cast

Production

It was shot in Paris and southern France.

Reception

The film received mixed to negative reviews, with a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 18 reviews.