Pollock (film)
Encyclopedia
Pollock is a 2000 biographical
drama film
which tells the life story of painter Jackson Pollock
. It stars Ed Harris
, Jennifer Connelly
, Robert Knott, Bud Cort
, Molly Regan, Marcia Gay Harden
and Sada Thompson
.
The film flashes back to nine years earlier (1941). At this time Pollock is usually drunk and makes a living by exhibiting a painting in occasional group art shows. He is living with his brother Charles Pollock, whom he calls Sande, in a tiny apartment in New York City. Sande's wife tells him that they are having a baby, perhaps indicating to Jackson that he needs to move out. Artist Lee Krasner
shows up and takes an interest in him. Later, at dinner he learns that his brother is moving to Connecticut, as he's been drafted by the army to build gliders. Sande's wife reveals that Jackson's Selective Service status is 4F. This means that Jackson cannot be drafted. Unable to handle conflicting feelings, Jackson has a convulsion and needs to be cared for. Lee learns from sande that Jackson is diagnosed neurotic. However, Lee takes him home and decides to be his manager. One day, his old friend Ruben comes along with Howard Putzel who works for an art collector Peggy Guggenheim
. Jackson seems more interested to meet Reuben than Howard. Peggy Guggenheim comes to see his art. She is initially very frustrated for having to wait, but gives him a contract to sell $2400 of paintings plus a commission to paint a mural of 8 ft by 20 ft on the entrance hall of her town house in New York City. His first exhibit fails to attract any buyers. After a New Year's Eve party, he almost gets in bed with Peggy but is too drunk to properly perform. Jackson returns to Lee in the morning. He is upset again when he learns of the death of Howard, falling back to the street in a drunken stupor and again returning to Lee. Lee, as always, takes him back. Lee then asks Jackson to make a decision: whether to marry her and continue painting art or "split up". Jackson surprisingly insists on a church wedding and Lee says she wants no guests. They decide to move to a country house by the ocean in Springs, NY, on Long Island
. Jackson and Lee adopt an abandoned dog whom they name Gyp. Jackson is disheartened when Lee makes clear to Jackson that she does not want to have a baby, partly because she is happy to just live as two painters, partly because of his neurosis, and partly because of the pecuniary situation and his painting needs. At a get-together at Peggy Guggenheim's, despite art critic Clement Greenberg
's comments, he shows that it's hard for him to change his finished painting to others' liking. Jackson's pictures still aren't selling. At a poker party, while they talk about the situation, Clement mentions that things will change after Life Magazine's coverage and subsequent art exhibit. Lee gets jealous when Jackson hugs another woman. Meanwhile, Jackson tries doing other business for a living but his drinking gets in the way. He lies to Sande and family about the financial status and waits to see what will happen after Life Magazine's coverage. This time he tries to abstain from alcohol. Things get better after the magazine story. Later, A photographer, Hans Namuth, tries to make a film of Jackson as he paints. Hans' movie-making interrupts the nature of Jackson's work and Jackson feels like a phony acting it out. Jackson loses patience and, much to Lee's disapproval, he takes to drinking again. The alcohol triggers his neurosis and he ruins Thanksgiving dinner. The film returns to the present in the art exhibit in 1950.
Five years later Clement mentions that the Partisan Review
is favoring Clyfford Still
, and that his original technique of modern art could be the next direction of modern art. Jackson does not take it well. Lee accuses a drunk Jackson that it's because he's (again) taken to drinking. Jackson argues it's all because she won't have a child. Lee knows he's having an affair with Ruth Kligman
. Lee says she won't give Jackson a divorce — no matter what. When Lee goes to Venice
to visit Peggy Guggenheim, Jackson receives a call from her. After this call Jackson mentions to Ruth, "I owe the woman something". Ruth brings a friend, Edith Metzger, to visit Jackson. They go for a drive, but Jackson is quite drunk. There is a fatal car accident in which Jackson and Edith die; Ruth survives. The film ends with a mention that Lee survives another 28 years, continuing her painting career in Jackson's studio.
is the composer for the film.
by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. It was directed by Harris.
This film was a long term dream of Ed Harris. After his father gave him a copy of Pollock's biography, he started thinking about the project, which took almost 10 years to bring to fruition.
Filming took a mere 50 days with a six week layoff after forty days so Harris could take time to gain thirty pounds and grow a beard.
Harris himself did all the painting seen in the film.
it holds a "Certified Fresh" rating of 82% and a 77 out of 100 at Metacritic
. Meanwhile reviews offering alternative and contextualized reads of the film have been written by David Walsh for the World Socialist Web Site and John A. Walker, author of Art & Artists on Screen
won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
for portraying Lee Krasner, Pollock's wife. Ed Harris was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
.
Harden was also nominated at the Independent Spirit Awards
and won at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards
.
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
which tells the life story of painter Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
. It stars Ed Harris
Ed Harris
Edward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...
, Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Lynn Connelly is an American film actress, who began her career as a child model. She appeared in magazine, newspaper and television advertising, before making her motion picture debut in the 1984 crime film Once Upon a Time in America...
, Robert Knott, Bud Cort
Bud Cort
Bud Cort is an American film and stage actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his portrayals of Harold in Hal Ashby's 1971 film Harold and Maude and the titular hero in Robert Altman's 1970 film Brewster McCloud...
, Molly Regan, Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...
and Sada Thompson
Sada Thompson
Sada Carolyn Thompson was an American stage, film, and television actress.-Life and career:Born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1927 to Hugh Woodruff Thompson and his wife Corlyss , and raised in New Jersey, Thompson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, after...
.
Plot
The film begins showing the abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) autographing illustrations in a copy of Life magazine for a woman at an art exhibit in 1950.The film flashes back to nine years earlier (1941). At this time Pollock is usually drunk and makes a living by exhibiting a painting in occasional group art shows. He is living with his brother Charles Pollock, whom he calls Sande, in a tiny apartment in New York City. Sande's wife tells him that they are having a baby, perhaps indicating to Jackson that he needs to move out. Artist Lee Krasner
Lee Krasner
Lee Krasner was an influential abstract expressionist painter in the second half of the 20th century. On October 25, 1945, she married artist Jackson Pollock, who was also influential in the Abstract Expressionism movement....
shows up and takes an interest in him. Later, at dinner he learns that his brother is moving to Connecticut, as he's been drafted by the army to build gliders. Sande's wife reveals that Jackson's Selective Service status is 4F. This means that Jackson cannot be drafted. Unable to handle conflicting feelings, Jackson has a convulsion and needs to be cared for. Lee learns from sande that Jackson is diagnosed neurotic. However, Lee takes him home and decides to be his manager. One day, his old friend Ruben comes along with Howard Putzel who works for an art collector Peggy Guggenheim
Peggy Guggenheim
Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was an American art collector. Born to a wealthy New York City family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912 and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R...
. Jackson seems more interested to meet Reuben than Howard. Peggy Guggenheim comes to see his art. She is initially very frustrated for having to wait, but gives him a contract to sell $2400 of paintings plus a commission to paint a mural of 8 ft by 20 ft on the entrance hall of her town house in New York City. His first exhibit fails to attract any buyers. After a New Year's Eve party, he almost gets in bed with Peggy but is too drunk to properly perform. Jackson returns to Lee in the morning. He is upset again when he learns of the death of Howard, falling back to the street in a drunken stupor and again returning to Lee. Lee, as always, takes him back. Lee then asks Jackson to make a decision: whether to marry her and continue painting art or "split up". Jackson surprisingly insists on a church wedding and Lee says she wants no guests. They decide to move to a country house by the ocean in Springs, NY, on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. Jackson and Lee adopt an abandoned dog whom they name Gyp. Jackson is disheartened when Lee makes clear to Jackson that she does not want to have a baby, partly because she is happy to just live as two painters, partly because of his neurosis, and partly because of the pecuniary situation and his painting needs. At a get-together at Peggy Guggenheim's, despite art critic Clement Greenberg
Clement Greenberg
Clement Greenberg was an American essayist known mainly as an influential visual art critic closely associated with American Modern art of the mid-20th century...
's comments, he shows that it's hard for him to change his finished painting to others' liking. Jackson's pictures still aren't selling. At a poker party, while they talk about the situation, Clement mentions that things will change after Life Magazine's coverage and subsequent art exhibit. Lee gets jealous when Jackson hugs another woman. Meanwhile, Jackson tries doing other business for a living but his drinking gets in the way. He lies to Sande and family about the financial status and waits to see what will happen after Life Magazine's coverage. This time he tries to abstain from alcohol. Things get better after the magazine story. Later, A photographer, Hans Namuth, tries to make a film of Jackson as he paints. Hans' movie-making interrupts the nature of Jackson's work and Jackson feels like a phony acting it out. Jackson loses patience and, much to Lee's disapproval, he takes to drinking again. The alcohol triggers his neurosis and he ruins Thanksgiving dinner. The film returns to the present in the art exhibit in 1950.
Five years later Clement mentions that the Partisan Review
Partisan Review
Partisan Review was an American political and literary quarterly published from 1934 to 2003, though it suspended publication between October 1936 and December 1937.-Overview:...
is favoring Clyfford Still
Clyfford Still
Clyfford Still was an American painter, and one of the leading figures of Abstract Expressionism.-Biography:...
, and that his original technique of modern art could be the next direction of modern art. Jackson does not take it well. Lee accuses a drunk Jackson that it's because he's (again) taken to drinking. Jackson argues it's all because she won't have a child. Lee knows he's having an affair with Ruth Kligman
Ruth Kligman
Ruth Kligman was an American abstract artist and writer most commonly known as the muse of several other American artists of the mid-20th century including Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning....
. Lee says she won't give Jackson a divorce — no matter what. When Lee goes to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
to visit Peggy Guggenheim, Jackson receives a call from her. After this call Jackson mentions to Ruth, "I owe the woman something". Ruth brings a friend, Edith Metzger, to visit Jackson. They go for a drive, but Jackson is quite drunk. There is a fatal car accident in which Jackson and Edith die; Ruth survives. The film ends with a mention that Lee survives another 28 years, continuing her painting career in Jackson's studio.
Cast
- Ed HarrisEd HarrisEdward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...
as Jackson PollockJackson PollockPaul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and... - Marcia Gay HardenMarcia Gay HardenMarcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...
as Lee KrasnerLee KrasnerLee Krasner was an influential abstract expressionist painter in the second half of the 20th century. On October 25, 1945, she married artist Jackson Pollock, who was also influential in the Abstract Expressionism movement.... - Tom BowerTom Bower (actor)Tom Bower is an American actor who has appeared in a wide variety of television and film roles from 1973 to present. He played physician-husband Curt on The Waltons. He has held a number of prominent supporting roles including Dan Miller in the 2000 film Pollock and the gas station attendant in...
as Dan Miller - Jennifer ConnellyJennifer ConnellyJennifer Lynn Connelly is an American film actress, who began her career as a child model. She appeared in magazine, newspaper and television advertising, before making her motion picture debut in the 1984 crime film Once Upon a Time in America...
as Ruth KligmanRuth KligmanRuth Kligman was an American abstract artist and writer most commonly known as the muse of several other American artists of the mid-20th century including Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.... - Bud CortBud CortBud Cort is an American film and stage actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his portrayals of Harold in Hal Ashby's 1971 film Harold and Maude and the titular hero in Robert Altman's 1970 film Brewster McCloud...
as Howard Putzel - John Heard as Tony SmithTony Smith (sculptor)Tony Smith was an American sculptor, visual artist, architectural designer, and a noted theorist on art. He is often cited as a pioneering figure in American Minimalist sculpture.-Education:...
- Val KilmerVal KilmerVal Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
as Willem de KooningWillem de KooningWillem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.... - Amy MadiganAmy MadiganAmy Marie Madigan is an American actress who is known for her role as Annie Kinsella in the 1989 film Field of Dreams and Iris Crowe in the HBO television series Carnivale...
as Peggy GuggenheimPeggy GuggenheimMarguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was an American art collector. Born to a wealthy New York City family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912 and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R... - Sally MurphySally MurphySally Murphy is an Australian children’s author and poet, who has had thirty books published, including verse novels, picture books, and educational titles.-Biography:...
as Edith Metzger - Stephanie SeymourStephanie SeymourStephanie Michelle Seymour is an American model and actress. Seymour has modeled for many notable fashion magazines and designers, and has been photographed by several well-known photographers including Herb Ritts, Richard Avedon, Gilles Bensimon, and Mario Testino.-Career:Born in San Diego,...
as Helen FrankenthalerHelen FrankenthalerHelen Frankenthaler is an American abstract expressionist painter. She is a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work in six decades she has spanned several generations of abstract painters while continuing to produce vital and ever-changing new work... - Matthew SussmanMatthew SussmanMatthew Sussman is an American actor, photographer and documentary filmmaker.Sussman has appeared in numerous films, including Kate & Leopold and Pollock, in which he played the artist Reuben Kadish. Sussman also appeared in three episodes of The Sopranos in 2000 and 2002 as Dr. Douglas Schreck...
as Reuben KadishReuben KadishReuben Kadish was an American artist, specializing as a sculptor, draughtsman, muralist, painter, and printmaker. In his later career he also taught art history and sculpture in New York.-Early life:... - Jeffrey TamborJeffrey TamborJeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
as Clement GreenbergClement GreenbergClement Greenberg was an American essayist known mainly as an influential visual art critic closely associated with American Modern art of the mid-20th century... - Norbert WeisserNorbert WeisserNorbert Weisser is a German-born American film and theatre actor, probably most known for his many roles in Albert Pyun-directed films ....
as Hans NamuthHans NamuthHans Namuth was a German-born photographer. Namuth specialized in portraiture, photographing many artists, including abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock. His photos of Pollock at work in his studio increased Pollock's fame and recognition and led to a greater understanding of his work and... - Everett Quinton as James Johnson SweeneyJames Johnson SweeneyJames Johnson Sweeney was a curator, and writer about modern art. From 1935 to 1946, he was curator for the Museum of Modern Art. He was the second director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, from 1952 to 1960...
- John RothmanJohn RothmanJohn Mahr Rothman is an American film, television, and stage actor.Rothman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Elizabeth D. and Donald N. Rothman, a lawyer. He is the brother of film executive Tom Rothman. Rothman is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Yale School of Drama...
as Harold RosenbergHarold RosenbergHarold Rosenberg was an American writer, educator, philosopher and art critic. He coined the term Action Painting in 1952 for what was later to be known as abstract expressionism. The term was first employed in Rosenberg's essay "American Action Painters" published in the December 1952 issue of... - Kenny ScharfKenny ScharfKenny Scharf is an American painter who lives in Brooklyn, New York. The artist received his B.F.A in 1980 at the School of Visual Arts located in New York City. Scharf's works consist of popular culture based shows with made up science-related backgrounds...
as William BaziotesWilliam BaziotesWilliam Baziotes was an American painter influenced by Surrealism and was a contributor to Abstract Expressionism.-Life and career:... - Sada ThompsonSada ThompsonSada Carolyn Thompson was an American stage, film, and television actress.-Life and career:Born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1927 to Hugh Woodruff Thompson and his wife Corlyss , and raised in New Jersey, Thompson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, after...
as Stella Pollock - Robert O'Neill as Herbert MatterHerbert MatterHerbert Matter was a Swiss-born American photographer and graphic designer known for his pioneering use of photomontage in commercial art...
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on CD on February 13, 2001. Jeff BealJeff Beal
Jeff Beal is an American composer of music for film, television, recordings, and the concert hall. Highly regarded as a jazz instrumentalist and versatile composer, Beal's music often incorporates a synthesis of improvisatory and composed elements.- Early life :Beal began trumpet studies in the...
is the composer for the film.
- "Alone in the Crowd"
- "Beauty from Pain"
- "One Man Show"
- "The Window"
- "Stroke of Genius"
- "Plant Your Garden"
- "Stroke by Stroke"
- "Breaking the Rules"
- "Art of This Century"
- "The Look"
- "A Life's Work"
- "Empty"
- "A Letter from Lee"
- "The World Keeps Turning" - Tom WaitsTom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
- "Unfinished"
- "The Mural Goes on and On (The Mural Remix)"
- "She Played the Banjo (Main Title Remix)"
Production
The film was adapted by Barbara Turner and Susan Emshwiller from the book Jackson Pollock: An American SagaJackson Pollock: An American Saga
Jackson Pollock: An American Saga is a 1989 biography of expressionist painter Jackson Pollock by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. It was considered "well-researched" by Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, and inspired Ed Harris to adapt it to film as Pollock in 2000. It was awarded the...
by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. It was directed by Harris.
This film was a long term dream of Ed Harris. After his father gave him a copy of Pollock's biography, he started thinking about the project, which took almost 10 years to bring to fruition.
Filming took a mere 50 days with a six week layoff after forty days so Harris could take time to gain thirty pounds and grow a beard.
Harris himself did all the painting seen in the film.
Reception
Pollock received very positive reviews during its release. On Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
it holds a "Certified Fresh" rating of 82% and a 77 out of 100 at Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. Meanwhile reviews offering alternative and contextualized reads of the film have been written by David Walsh for the World Socialist Web Site and John A. Walker, author of Art & Artists on Screen
Awards
Marcia Gay HardenMarcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...
won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for portraying Lee Krasner, Pollock's wife. Ed Harris was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
.
Harden was also nominated at the Independent Spirit Awards
Independent Spirit Awards
The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit...
and won at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
New York Film Critics' Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. It is considered one of the most important precursors to the Academy Awards....
.
External links
- Breathing fire into an artist
- Ed Harris interview at IndieWireIndieWireindieWIRE is a daily news site for the independent film community. It covers indie, documentary and foreign language films, as well industry news, film festival reports, filmmaker interviews and movie reviews...