Pollock is an important movie that moves the viewer in so many ways. Ed Harris' labor of love has come to the screen in full glory. Harris directed and stars as Jackson Pollock, a mercurial genius and abstract expressionist painter of the 40s and early 50s. Pollock was famous for his style of using thrown and dripping paint, creating dazzling and masterful groundbreaking paintings of fierce originality. Pollock displays so many paintings that it is a virtual museum trip. The screenplay is based on a Pulitzer-Prize-winning biography, Jackson Pollock: An American Saga. It left me wanting to experience his sprawling canvasses firsthand again.
It is not surprising that Pollock appears to have a mood disorder from the depiction in the film. The illness is not readily obvious to the casual observer, but I read between the lines. He is prone to wild mood swings, drinks heavily, and gets more abusive toward his family as he gets older. Pollock was an alcoholic and it led to his death in 1956 at the age of 44 from a car crash. Pollock seemed clearly depressed and Harris gives a brilliantly nuanced performance that captures the pain of Pollock's illness and his struggle to come to terms with it. Harris' face is so expressive, his eyes so sad, that he hardly needs to talk to convey Pollock's feelings. At times Pollock can hardly talk at all.
Jackson Pollock could not control his moods or his depression. Painting was his true expression and seemingly the only thing that he could control. The movie captures the working artist vividly and spectacularly. The camera sweeps around Harris as he paints on the floor. The scenes showing him paint are the most exciting in the movie. As a director, Harris captures the concentration and fervor of Pollock creating his art, and as an actor Harris is totally convincing as a working artist.
The film details a fifteen-year period in Pollock's life, from the early 40s when he was first discovered until his death. Harris, in his directorial debut, has made a remarkable film, sensitive, rich in its period detail, powerfully conveying both Pollock's art and his volatile relationship with Lee Krasner, superbly played by Marcia Gay Harden, which is the centerpiece of the film. A fellow artist, she recognized Pollock's genius and worked tirelessly promoting him and getting his work seen by the powerful art critics and patrons.
The early scenes, in which a painfully shy and barely audible Pollock meets Krasner when she stops by his apartment, and their subsequent courtship, are emotionally compelling. She invited him to her studio and she was beautiful, yet it took Pollock almost a month to come over. While out for coffee, she looks at him tenderly and with desire, yet he cannot meet her gaze, looking down. She is so sensitive with him and ultimately becomes his advocate, best friend, lover, wife and caretaker.
Pollock seemed childlike at times, and a nasty, selfish brute at others. Both Harris and Harden give brilliant performances, worthy of their Oscar nominations, and the chemistry between them is intense. Unfortunately, Pollock was not nominated for best picture or best director, but Marcia Harden did win the Oscar for her performance as Lee Krasner.
Pollock seemed to hate explaining his methods and theories. When asked by a reporter how he knows a painting is finished he retorts, "When do you know you have finished making love?" Pollock has said "…the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through."
There is so much that could be said about Pollock and it's perhaps best to say that it speaks loudly to me as a consumer. One word of caution though: the movie is intense. Pollock is a powerful film about a great artist depicted without sentimentality or exaggeration. Repeated viewings will uncover more richness and subtlety missed on a first viewing. It's amazing how much Harris packed into the two-hour movie. I left wanting wanted more.
For more information on the film and Jackson Pollock you can visit the official Pollock website at: www.spe.sony.com/classics/pollock/