Modigliani

Postwar Paris provides the backdrop for Modigliani’s fraught ascent and the explosive energy of the avant-garde scene. The city’s studios, salons, and the competing art world illustrate the era’s tensions between tradition and modernism. Personal stakes—love, family, addiction, and the will to survive—anchor the period’s dramatic arc.

Set in Paris, France, in 1919, the film captures the bohemian atmosphere of the city’s art districts. The story follows Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani and his circle, including rival Pablo Picasso, as they navigate love, poverty, and creative ambition. Key locations range from bustling cafés to the City Hall, where a race against time and fate unfolds.

🎨 Artistic Rivalry

Modigliani’s drive to create a masterpiece in a competitive Paris art world is tested by his rivalry with Picasso. The film shows how artistry can become a public duel, where pride and careful craft collide with personal need. Entering the competition, he gambles with his health and finances, hoping victory would secure his child’s future. Even when he wins, the price is steep, exposing the fragility of artistic genius under commercial pressure.

💔 Love and Loss

Jeanne Hébuterne’s love for Modigliani anchors the story amid social barriers and personal danger. Their relationship intensifies as they face poverty, the threat of scandal, and the heartbreak of an unborn child. Jeanne’s later tragedy and Modigliani’s death compound the film’s exploration of passion and mortality. From tenderness to catastrophe, the romance drives both character development and the narrative’s emotional core.

⚰️ Mortality and Fate

Death hangs over Modigliani and Jeanne, with Modigliani dying in hospital and Jeanne choosing to end her life. The film frames these losses as the culmination of a precarious life lived between hunger, addiction, and artistic aspiration. Their shared burial alongside the unborn child marks a tragic, enduring legacy of love and art.