Andy Garcia gives an award winning performance as Italian Jewish artist, Amedeo Modigliani, in this film about his tragic life. He was madly in love with a French Catholic woman, Jeanne, whose father made it impossible for them to be together. Regardless, Jeanne would sacrifice custody of their own daughter in order to be with him. She just couldn't live without him. The supporting cast is quite good with Miriam Margolyes OBE playing Gertrude Stein (where was Alice B. Toklas?) in this film. The film was filmed on location in Paris. Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and other famed artists of that period were also portrayed but my main problem with this film was the lack of clarity in this film. It's a worthy effort but it could have done a little better.

Rotten Tomatoes has several dozen very bad reviews about this movie, and its such a shame - it will stay as one of my favorites af all time. Andy Garcias performance is superb and the whole experience is just an amazing romantic tragic but full of life feeling. It is probably not for everyones taste, as far as I'm concerned it is one of the best movies I have ever seen and I do watch a lot of movies Yes we know the story, and yes it might not be accurate for art historians but the way I see it it is a masterpiece in showcasing the soul and life of a troubled artist.See it and try to feel it and enjoy!

The main assets of Modigliani are the spectacular acting, the beautiful camera shots and the great music (featuring La Vie en Rose and a beautiful Ave Maria interpretation). Andy Garcia does a wonderful job as the tormented Modigliani (he always does a wonderful job), whom everybody loves very much but nobody can help at all.Omid Djalili comes very close to the Picasso image I had in my mind.The story does not work very well, it is in fact a love story intertwined with a male friendship/rivalry. They tried to cram in so many characters into the plot that I sometimes felt at loss, and would have wished to know more about individual characters, respectively.For example, there is a scene in which Jeanne tells her father to leave her be and that she "recalls what he has done" already, a reference to her youth or early childhood, I assumed. I did not gather what he supposedly did.Then Modigliani also sees other women- has there been a break-up with Jeanne, I wondered or is it just his nature, and are we later on witnessing a reconciliation, the story does not tell. I did not understand why at the end, when Modigliani gets beaten up, his boy-self does not try to intervene, or reflect on the happenings, or why he did not try to urge his adult self to get going from the bar earlier, whereas he quite strongly interferes earlier, suggesting that Modigliani does not let Jeanne leave. The plot also includes many visions of Modigliani, such as the death of his friend in the asylum, or the conversations with himself as a child, which make a follow-up even harder. Although the runtime of Modigliani exceeds 2 hours, which I did not notice as the story captured me right from the start, there have been plot lines left unfinished.The movie Modigliani does not try to be authentic or historical, but rather captures the Montmartre, the Parisienne painters' everyday life and struggle in the '20s, seen through a beautiful and difficult love story and friendship.If you take it for what it is, a fictional, strongly emotional (and somewhat irrational) story based on some non-fictional characters, in a beautifully arranged setting and shot in a highly artistic manner, Modigliani is a wonderful movie and a worthy homage to the era and the great artists of those times.

I just bought the DVD blindfolded in a way , without knowing much about the movie , Now I congratulate myself for this buy . The comments from this site are like from the agony to ecstasy , some are giving few stars 1 or 2 and others 10/10. I regret I did not give it a 10/10.Of course there are some goofs,mistakes,anachronisms ...etc.But you should get your attention to the story . Painters are artists and therefore they are not normal people , they can't be .An artist does not measure in material things . How much earned Phidias , or Ovid , or Aesop ? Their works lasts centuries and millenniums , time is the best critic . I felt sympathetic for Modigliani , for his tragic and sad life .But nothing was in vain.That is my opinion . Very moving film , touching . A must see ! I highly recommend it.