Video No. 6020. English Language Pal VHS.
An Exploration of Art on Film.
'Monsieur Rene Magritte'.
A Film by Adrian Maben.
Rene Magritte (18981967) was the greatest painter of the Surrealist movement. Today, the paradoxical blend of beauty and menace in his imagery still has the power to unnerve the viewer. This film sets out to analyse why the paintings he produced are so compelling, and how the events in his life influenced his work.
It begins by tracing his imagery back to childhood impressions, such as the magical experience of trips to the cinema, the bizarre landing of a stray hot-air balloon on the family's house, and the tragic suicide of his mother when he was twelve years old. It then follows Magritte's development through his education at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, his discovery of Futurism and the work of Italian metaphysical painter de Chirico, the evolution of his own unique vision, and his later years of international fame and recognition.
Shot on location in Belgium, the film covers the vast array of Magritte's oeuvre and includes invaluable archive footage of the artist talking about his life and work, and amusing excerpts from the home movies that were one of his passions. The house where he lived and worked was left untouched by his widow after his death in 1967, and the film shows how the familiar objects of his everyday surroundings became transformed into powerful and arresting visual puns.
