The Adventures of Picasso
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Picasso (original title: Picassos äventyr) is a 1978 Swedish
film
comedy
directed by Tage Danielsson
, starring Gösta Ekman
, as the famous painter
. The film had the tag-line Tusen kärleksfulla lögner av Hans Alfredson och Tage Danielsson (A thousand loving lies by Hans Alfredson and Tage Danielsson).
The film uses ten languages: Spanish, French, Swedish, German, Finnish, Italian, English, Russian, Norwegian and Latin. Most of these words are very simple (agua, water), sometimes meaning something different than they seem (Don Jose's military rank, Hauptbahnhof, which means "central rail station" in German) and other times just being complete nonsense.
's life and death, narrated by Toivo Pawlo
, who introduces himself as Elsa Beskow
. It opens with a quote by Picasso himself: "Art is a lie that leads us closer to the truth."
The story starts with Picasso's birth in Málaga
, Spain
. His father, Don Jose (Hans Alfredson
), is an artist and discovers early his son's talent when the young boy makes a sculpture of Don Jose with his food.
When Pablo is old enough (and now portrayed by Gösta Ekman
) his father takes him to Madrid
, so that Pablo can study art. On their way, they encounter two robbers who try to hurt a beautiful girl named Dolores (Lena Olin
). After a slapstick
number in which Picasso defeats the two attackers, she gives him a bottle of paint, containing a djinn. With the paint from that bottle he signs all his paintings.
At the academy of art Pablo's talent is praised and awarded. When he returns home with a portrait of his mother Dona Maria (Margaretha Krook
), he is equally praised there. Unfortunately, their happiness is ruined when Don Jose suddenly dies - or so it seems. At the funeral it turns out he's actually still alive. Despite this, Dona Maria keeps ignoring him with the words: "Idioto, tu és muerta".
Pablo leaves for Paris
, but has a hard time selling any of his paintings. One day his father comes to visit him, bringing the sad news that Dona Maria is dead. When Don Jose starts to eat an apple
that Pablo used as a reference for his painting, Picasso starts to draw faster, still using the apple as reference. The result is the birth of cubism
.
This new style, however, is very hard to sell - until Pablo's father gets an idea from a fishing rod
. He lowers the painting down from a window during a vernissage
. The overall reaction is negative, with comments like "Scandal", "Merde", "Oh, mon dieu" and "piss".
One of the guests however, finds the picture both charming and marvelous
and declares that she wants to buy it. This lady is none other than the great writer Gertrude Stein
(Bernard Cribbins
), who is attending the vernissage with her companion Alice B. Toklas
(Wilfrid Brambell
).
After this, Picasso becomes the center of the artworld of Paris. Along with names like Braque
, Matisse
, Fernand Léger
, Pompidou
, Entrecôte
, Carl Larsson
, Karl-Alfred
, Loulou
, Dodo
, Jou-Jou
, Clo-Clo, Margot
, Frou Frou, Jenny Nyström
, Hejsan-Tjosan, Corselet
, Omelette
and Rembrandt (most of these names are just nonsense and mean other things than you might suspect). The Paris artworld also included Hemingway
, who enjoys knitting
, Erik Satie
, Guillaume Apollinaire
, Henri Rousseau
, Vincent van Gogh
and no less than two Toulouse-Lautrec. Along with Mimi, a waitress who gave Puccini the inspiration to "Thy tiny hand is frozen", the reason for this being that she is carrying a wine cooler.
After this introduction to the artworld of Paris, the narrator tells about a "normal" day in Picassos life. It ends with a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Guggenheim
from New York
. Although the Swedish American
multimillionaire Ingrid Svensson-Guggenheim (Birgitta Andersson
) doesn't understand Picasso's art, she knows that it is expensive, and therefore immortal. She becomes a pest and at whatever the cost she is determined to become a part of Picasso's art and world. When Picasso no longer seems to be able to escape the annoying American
, his two friends Rousseau (Lennart Nyman) and Apollinaire (Per Oscarsson
) invite him to Rousseau's hidden forest, where Apollinaire reads aloud some of his poems for his friends. This gives Picasso an idea. They will have a masquerade
in Rousseaus honor.
This masquerade has a lot of famous historic persons, most of them dressed as furniture
. It all ends with Rousseau, while playing his violin
, flying out the window and into the night of Paris.
Now it's 1914 and Picasso and all of humanity is looking forward to a bright future full of liberty, equality and fraternity. This is all destroyed however with the coming of World War I
and the headlines
"KRASH! BOM! BANG!
In 1918, when the war is over, Pablo once again meets his father, who has invented a new shampoo that will regrow hair. It has another effect on Pablo however, who loses all of his hair and gives him his famous bald look.
Shortly after this, Pablo gets the job to make the sets and clothes for the russian ballet
. The ballet, premiering in London
, is not a success however. Don Jose makes the dancers' food and all the performers end up passing gas.
Picasso returns to Paris, where he meets Sirkka (Lena Nyman
), a Finnish singer who sings a song that he becomes enchanted by. However, when it turns out that that song (which is essentially a recipe for making a kalakukko
(the equivalent of the Russian rybnik or kurnik)) is the only one Sirkka’s got on her repertoire, Picasso soon gets sick of it and leaves for New York
with his father.
In America there is a prohibition on art (a reference to the real Prohibition era of liquor). Pablo works underground and one day he is asked to deliver a set of pictures to a Mrs. X. It turns out that this mysterious woman is none other than Ingrid Svensson-Guggenheim. She doesn't give up so easily, but Picasso manages to escape her flirting.
When delivering art to the local gangster Big Mac, Pablo, Don Jose and Ingrid Svensson-Guggenheim are caught in a shootout between Big Mac and his rival Mr. Peperoni. The shootout is interrupted however by a police raid. A very foulmouthed cop accuses Pablo of being a murderer and states that art is a lethal poison. It all turns into an impromptu trial
against Pablo with Ingrid Svensson-Guggenheim and the two gangs as the jury
. Don Jose, acting as Pablo's lawyer
tries to defend his son, stating that Picasso's work is not art, but childish graffiti. However, Pablo is still found guilty and is sentenced to death by the electric chair
.
The chair refuses to work however, and the electrician
, a Norwegian named Grieg (Rolv Wesenlund
), is sent in to fix it. It all backfires however and in the mess Pablo draws a door on the wall and escapes back to Europe.
In Europe however, "the monsters" -- Benito Mussolini
, Adolf Hitler
and Francisco Franco
-- have seized power. Don Jose joins the German army and later on becomes promoted to the rank of Hauptbahnhof (a German word meaning main train station) in the SS, in charge of Operation Ostrich, with the mission to find opposition men in hiding. During the war, Picasso uses his apartment to hide opposition members. When the war is over, Don Jose quickly changes into French clothes, stating "I like Ike!", waving the American flag and singing My Old Kentucky Home
, charming the Americans in pretty much the same way he did with the Germans.
After World War II Pablo settles down at the Riviera, were he once again meets the love of his youth, Dolores, and her granddaughter (who, like young Dolores, is played by Lena Olin
. Inspired by them Picasso sends his doves (animated birds) out in a world plagued by the Cold War.
After a while, Don Jose shows up again with his new wife, who turns out to be Ingrid Svensson-Guggenheim. Picasso is trapped by his own fame, he has become an industry and his house is converted into a museum while he still lives in it. After drinking the last of the ink
in the magic bottle Dolores gave him years ago, he falls asleep and dies. At the same moment all the signatures on Picasso's paintings disappear, it becomes The Great Picasso crash.
But, as we find out, Picasso is not really dead. When everyone has left the room he gets up, waves goodbye to his paintings and fades into the wall.
or Picasso.
Despite the fact that this movie is set in Spain, London, Paris, the French Riviera and America most of the movie was shot in and around the Swedish town of Tomelilla. Many of the scenes are filmed at the same street. Using a glasspainting in front of the camera and changing a few things on the set, the filmmakers could turn the little street of Tomelilla into all the big cities shown in this film.
All of Picasso's paintings for this movie were made by Per Åhlin
. After the film's premiere the paintings by Per Åhlin were shown at a vernissage in Tomelilla with pricetags from 222 220 kronor
and up. All except one, Elsa Melon, that only cost 40 kr, but it was listed as already sold. Per Åhlin wanted the paintings to be destroyed after the vernissage so they wouldn't be spread as Per Åhlin-paintings when they were only "Per Åhlin-paintings that mimicked Picasso for a movie full of lies". According to the movie's commentary track by Gösta Ekman, some of the paintings were saved by the cast and crew who now keeps them in their houses.
Sirkka's song is actually a recipe for pastry of fish and bacon
.
, in Danish, Karen Blixen
, in Norwegian, Margaretha Munthe and the French narrator introduces himself as Mistinguett
.
Years after the movie's release, when Gösta Ekman went down to Budapest
on vacation, he found that people looked at him in a very odd way. He eventually understood why when a local asked him if he were Picasso, to which Gösta replied, "If you mean that I played Picasso in a movie than, yeah, that's right." He later found out that the film was a great success in Hungary
, were it has been playing on a Budapest cinema every year since its release, and even had been turned into a stage play. Hans Alfredson
, who wrote the script along with Tage Danielsson
and also starred as Pablo's father, has seen the play and liked it. He commented that "It was very faithful to the film."
, thus indirectly reprising his part of Hitler.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
directed by Tage Danielsson
Tage Danielsson
Tage Danielsson was a Swedish author, actor, poet and film director. He was born in Linköping and died in Stockholm...
, starring Gösta Ekman
Gösta Ekman
Hans Gösta Gustaf Ekman is a Swedish actor.-Biography:One of Sweden's most appreciated, respected and popular actors; Gösta Ekman started his career in theatre but has also appeared in several Swedish films, including the Jönssonligan series...
, as the famous painter
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
. The film had the tag-line Tusen kärleksfulla lögner av Hans Alfredson och Tage Danielsson (A thousand loving lies by Hans Alfredson and Tage Danielsson).
The film uses ten languages: Spanish, French, Swedish, German, Finnish, Italian, English, Russian, Norwegian and Latin. Most of these words are very simple (agua, water), sometimes meaning something different than they seem (Don Jose's military rank, Hauptbahnhof, which means "central rail station" in German) and other times just being complete nonsense.
Plot
The film is (very) loosely based on Pablo PicassoPablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
's life and death, narrated by Toivo Pawlo
Toivo Pawlo
Toivo Pawlo was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1943 and 1978.-Selected filmography:* Rabies * The Magician * Made in Sweden...
, who introduces himself as Elsa Beskow
Elsa Beskow
Elsa Beskow was a Swedish author and illustrator of children's books...
. It opens with a quote by Picasso himself: "Art is a lie that leads us closer to the truth."
The story starts with Picasso's birth in Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. His father, Don Jose (Hans Alfredson
Hans Alfredson
Hans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson is a Swedish actor, film director, writer and comedian. He was born in Malmö, Sweden. He is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson...
), is an artist and discovers early his son's talent when the young boy makes a sculpture of Don Jose with his food.
When Pablo is old enough (and now portrayed by Gösta Ekman
Gösta Ekman
Hans Gösta Gustaf Ekman is a Swedish actor.-Biography:One of Sweden's most appreciated, respected and popular actors; Gösta Ekman started his career in theatre but has also appeared in several Swedish films, including the Jönssonligan series...
) his father takes him to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, so that Pablo can study art. On their way, they encounter two robbers who try to hurt a beautiful girl named Dolores (Lena Olin
Lena Olin
Lena Maria Jonna Olin is a Swedish actress.-Early life:Olin was born the youngest of three children, in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the daughter of actress Britta Holmberg and the director Stig Olin...
). After a slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
number in which Picasso defeats the two attackers, she gives him a bottle of paint, containing a djinn. With the paint from that bottle he signs all his paintings.
At the academy of art Pablo's talent is praised and awarded. When he returns home with a portrait of his mother Dona Maria (Margaretha Krook
Margaretha Krook
Margaretha Krook was a Swedish stage and film actress. She won the Eugene O'Neill Award in 1974. In 1976, she won the Guldbagge Award for Best Actress for the film Release the Prisoners to Spring.-Selected Filmography:...
), he is equally praised there. Unfortunately, their happiness is ruined when Don Jose suddenly dies - or so it seems. At the funeral it turns out he's actually still alive. Despite this, Dona Maria keeps ignoring him with the words: "Idioto, tu és muerta".
Pablo leaves for Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, but has a hard time selling any of his paintings. One day his father comes to visit him, bringing the sad news that Dona Maria is dead. When Don Jose starts to eat an apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
that Pablo used as a reference for his painting, Picasso starts to draw faster, still using the apple as reference. The result is the birth of cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
.
This new style, however, is very hard to sell - until Pablo's father gets an idea from a fishing rod
Fishing rod
A fishing rod or a fishing pole is a tool used to catch fish, usually in conjunction with the pastime of angling, and can also be used in competition casting. . A length of fishing line is attached to a long, flexible rod or pole: one end terminates in a hook for catching the fish...
. He lowers the painting down from a window during a vernissage
Vernissage
A vernissage is a term used for a preview of an art exhibition, often private, before the formal opening. Guests may be served canapés and wine as they discuss with artists and others the works in the exhibition...
. The overall reaction is negative, with comments like "Scandal", "Merde", "Oh, mon dieu" and "piss".
One of the guests however, finds the picture both charming and marvelous
Marvelous
Marvelous may refer to:* Marvelous , a 2001 album by Misia* Marvelous a 2006 film starring Martha Plimpton* Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima, a video game by Nintendo* Marvelous Bridges, a rock formation in Bulgaria...
and declares that she wants to buy it. This lady is none other than the great writer Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
(Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins, OBE is an English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian with a career spanning over half a century who came to prominence in films in the 1960s, has been in work consistently since his professional debut in the mid 1950s, and as of 2010 is still an active...
), who is attending the vernissage with her companion Alice B. Toklas
Alice B. Toklas
Alice B. Toklas was an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century.-Early life, relationship with Gertrude Stein:...
(Wilfrid Brambell
Wilfrid Brambell
Henry Wilfrid Brambell was an Irish film and television actor best known for his role in the British television series Steptoe and Son. He also performed alongside The Beatles in their film A Hard Day's Night, playing Paul McCartney's fictional grandfather.- Early life :Brambell was born in Dublin...
).
After this, Picasso becomes the center of the artworld of Paris. Along with names like Braque
Georges Braque
Georges Braque[p] was a major 20th century French painter and sculptor who, along with Pablo Picasso, developed the art style known as Cubism.-Early Life:...
, Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, Fernand Léger
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
, Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais...
, Entrecôte
Entrecôte
In French, the word entrecôte denotes a premium cut of beef used for steaks.A traditional entrecôte comes from the rib area of the carcass, corresponding to the steaks known in different parts of the English-speaking world as rib, rib-eye, club, Scotch fillet, or Delmonico.The term may also be used...
, Carl Larsson
Carl Larsson
Carl Larsson was a Swedish painter and interior designer, representative of the Arts and Crafts Movement. His many paintings include oils, watercolors, and frescoes...
, Karl-Alfred
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
, Loulou
Louise Leveque de Vilmorin
Louise Lévêque de Vilmorin was a French novelist, poet and journalist.Born in the family château at Verrières-le-Buisson, Essonne, a suburb southwest of Paris, she was heir to a great French seed company fortune, that of Vilmorin. She was afflicted with a slight limp that became a personal trademark...
, Dodo
Dodo
The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....
, Jou-Jou
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
, Clo-Clo, Margot
Margot
Margot is a French given name for a female, a short form of Marguerite. Persons named Margot include the following:- People with the given name Margot :* Margot Asquith, countess of Oxford and Asquith...
, Frou Frou, Jenny Nyström
Jenny Nyström
Jenny Eugenia Nyström was a painter and illustrator who is mainly known as the person who created the Swedish image of the jultomte on numerous Christmas cards and magazine covers, thus linking the Swedish version of Santa Claus to the gnomes of Scandinavian folklore.- Background :Her father was...
, Hejsan-Tjosan, Corselet
Corselet
A corselet or corselette is a type of foundation garment, sharing elements of both brassieres and girdles. It may incorporate lace in front or in back...
, Omelette
Omelette
In cuisine, an omelette or omelet is a dish made from beaten eggs quickly cooked with butter or oil in a frying pan, sometimes folded around a filling such as cheese, vegetables, meat , or some combination of the above...
and Rembrandt (most of these names are just nonsense and mean other things than you might suspect). The Paris artworld also included Hemingway
Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway was an American writer and journalist.Hemingway may also refer to:*Hemingway , a surname and list of people with that name*Hemingway , a Marvel Comics character*Hemingway, South Carolina...
, who enjoys knitting
Knitting
Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...
, Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
, Guillaume Apollinaire
Guillaume Apollinaire
Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki, known as Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic born in Italy to a Polish mother....
, Henri Rousseau
Henri Rousseau
Henri Julien Félix Rousseau was a French Post-Impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier , a humorous description of his occupation as a toll collector...
, Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
and no less than two Toulouse-Lautrec. Along with Mimi, a waitress who gave Puccini the inspiration to "Thy tiny hand is frozen", the reason for this being that she is carrying a wine cooler.
After this introduction to the artworld of Paris, the narrator tells about a "normal" day in Picassos life. It ends with a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Guggenheim
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Although the Swedish American
Swedish American
Swedish Americans are Americans of Swedish descent, especially the descendants of about 1.2 million immigrants from Sweden during 1885-1915. Most were Lutherans who affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ; some were Methodists...
multimillionaire Ingrid Svensson-Guggenheim (Birgitta Andersson
Birgitta Andersson
Ulla Birgitta Helena Andersson Bye is a Swedish actress and comedian.Andersson is a very popular and well liked actress in Sweden....
) doesn't understand Picasso's art, she knows that it is expensive, and therefore immortal. She becomes a pest and at whatever the cost she is determined to become a part of Picasso's art and world. When Picasso no longer seems to be able to escape the annoying American
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
, his two friends Rousseau (Lennart Nyman) and Apollinaire (Per Oscarsson
Per Oscarsson
- External links :...
) invite him to Rousseau's hidden forest, where Apollinaire reads aloud some of his poems for his friends. This gives Picasso an idea. They will have a masquerade
Masquerade ball
A masquerade ball is an event which the participants attend in costume wearing a mask. - History :...
in Rousseaus honor.
This masquerade has a lot of famous historic persons, most of them dressed as furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
. It all ends with Rousseau, while playing his violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, flying out the window and into the night of Paris.
Now it's 1914 and Picasso and all of humanity is looking forward to a bright future full of liberty, equality and fraternity. This is all destroyed however with the coming of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the headlines
Headlines
Headlines may refer to:* Headlines , a 2010 song by Alcazar* Headlines , a 2011 song by Drake* Headlines , a 2007 song by the Spice Girls...
"KRASH! BOM! BANG!
In 1918, when the war is over, Pablo once again meets his father, who has invented a new shampoo that will regrow hair. It has another effect on Pablo however, who loses all of his hair and gives him his famous bald look.
Shortly after this, Pablo gets the job to make the sets and clothes for the russian ballet
Russian ballet
Russian ballet is a form of ballet characteristic of or originating from Russia. In the early 19th century, the theaters were opened up to anyone who could afford a ticket. There was a seating section called a rayok, or 'paradise gallery', that consisted of simple wooden benches...
. The ballet, premiering in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, is not a success however. Don Jose makes the dancers' food and all the performers end up passing gas.
Picasso returns to Paris, where he meets Sirkka (Lena Nyman
Lena Nyman
Anna Lena Elisabet Nyman was a Swedish film and stage actress.Having had her first film roles in 1955, Nyman had a role in Vilgot Sjöman's 491 and got her breakthrough in his I Am Curious , where she, in pseudo-documentary fashion, played a character of the same name as herself, and its sequel I...
), a Finnish singer who sings a song that he becomes enchanted by. However, when it turns out that that song (which is essentially a recipe for making a kalakukko
Kalakukko
Kalakukko is a traditional food from the Finnish region of Savonia made from fish baked inside a loaf of bread. The Cornish pasty from Cornwall has the same basic idea of complete packed lunch. Kalakukko is very polular food in Savonia head city Kuopio. There is even Finland "Kalakukko" competition...
(the equivalent of the Russian rybnik or kurnik)) is the only one Sirkka’s got on her repertoire, Picasso soon gets sick of it and leaves for New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with his father.
In America there is a prohibition on art (a reference to the real Prohibition era of liquor). Pablo works underground and one day he is asked to deliver a set of pictures to a Mrs. X. It turns out that this mysterious woman is none other than Ingrid Svensson-Guggenheim. She doesn't give up so easily, but Picasso manages to escape her flirting.
When delivering art to the local gangster Big Mac, Pablo, Don Jose and Ingrid Svensson-Guggenheim are caught in a shootout between Big Mac and his rival Mr. Peperoni. The shootout is interrupted however by a police raid. A very foulmouthed cop accuses Pablo of being a murderer and states that art is a lethal poison. It all turns into an impromptu trial
Trial
A trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard.It may refer to:*Trial , the presentation of information in a formal setting, usually a court...
against Pablo with Ingrid Svensson-Guggenheim and the two gangs as the jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
. Don Jose, acting as Pablo's lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
tries to defend his son, stating that Picasso's work is not art, but childish graffiti. However, Pablo is still found guilty and is sentenced to death by the electric chair
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
.
The chair refuses to work however, and the electrician
Electrician
An electrician is a tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, stationary machines and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure. Electricians may also...
, a Norwegian named Grieg (Rolv Wesenlund
Rolv Wesenlund
Rolv Helge Wesenlund is a Norwegian comedian, singer, clarinetist, writer, and actor.Wesenlund is most famous for having portrayed the title character in the movies Bør Børson, Bør Børson II, and the TV series Fleksnes Fataliteter...
), is sent in to fix it. It all backfires however and in the mess Pablo draws a door on the wall and escapes back to Europe.
In Europe however, "the monsters" -- Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
-- have seized power. Don Jose joins the German army and later on becomes promoted to the rank of Hauptbahnhof (a German word meaning main train station) in the SS, in charge of Operation Ostrich, with the mission to find opposition men in hiding. During the war, Picasso uses his apartment to hide opposition members. When the war is over, Don Jose quickly changes into French clothes, stating "I like Ike!", waving the American flag and singing My Old Kentucky Home
My Old Kentucky Home
"My Old Kentucky Home" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster , probably composed in 1852. It was published as "My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night" in January 1853 by Firth, Pond, & Co. of New York...
, charming the Americans in pretty much the same way he did with the Germans.
After World War II Pablo settles down at the Riviera, were he once again meets the love of his youth, Dolores, and her granddaughter (who, like young Dolores, is played by Lena Olin
Lena Olin
Lena Maria Jonna Olin is a Swedish actress.-Early life:Olin was born the youngest of three children, in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the daughter of actress Britta Holmberg and the director Stig Olin...
. Inspired by them Picasso sends his doves (animated birds) out in a world plagued by the Cold War.
After a while, Don Jose shows up again with his new wife, who turns out to be Ingrid Svensson-Guggenheim. Picasso is trapped by his own fame, he has become an industry and his house is converted into a museum while he still lives in it. After drinking the last of the ink
Ink
Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments and/or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing and/or writing with a pen, brush, or quill...
in the magic bottle Dolores gave him years ago, he falls asleep and dies. At the same moment all the signatures on Picasso's paintings disappear, it becomes The Great Picasso crash.
But, as we find out, Picasso is not really dead. When everyone has left the room he gets up, waves goodbye to his paintings and fades into the wall.
Cast
- Gösta EkmanGösta EkmanHans Gösta Gustaf Ekman is a Swedish actor.-Biography:One of Sweden's most appreciated, respected and popular actors; Gösta Ekman started his career in theatre but has also appeared in several Swedish films, including the Jönssonligan series...
as Picasso - Hans AlfredsonHans AlfredsonHans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson is a Swedish actor, film director, writer and comedian. He was born in Malmö, Sweden. He is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson...
as Don José - Margaretha KrookMargaretha KrookMargaretha Krook was a Swedish stage and film actress. She won the Eugene O'Neill Award in 1974. In 1976, she won the Guldbagge Award for Best Actress for the film Release the Prisoners to Spring.-Selected Filmography:...
as Dona Maria - Lena OlinLena OlinLena Maria Jonna Olin is a Swedish actress.-Early life:Olin was born the youngest of three children, in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the daughter of actress Britta Holmberg and the director Stig Olin...
as Dolores - Bernard CribbinsBernard CribbinsBernard Cribbins, OBE is an English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian with a career spanning over half a century who came to prominence in films in the 1960s, has been in work consistently since his professional debut in the mid 1950s, and as of 2010 is still an active...
as Gertrude Stein / Narrator - Wilfrid BrambellWilfrid BrambellHenry Wilfrid Brambell was an Irish film and television actor best known for his role in the British television series Steptoe and Son. He also performed alongside The Beatles in their film A Hard Day's Night, playing Paul McCartney's fictional grandfather.- Early life :Brambell was born in Dublin...
as Alice B. Toklas - Lennart Nyman as Henri Rousseau
- Per OscarssonPer Oscarsson- External links :...
as Apollinaire - Elisabeth SöderströmElisabeth SöderströmElisabeth Anna Söderström CBE was a Swedish soprano, who performed both opera and song. She was particularly well known for her recordings of the lead soprano roles in the three Janáček operas Jenůfa, Káťa Kabanová, and The Makropoulos Affair, all of which received Gramophone Awards...
as Mimi - Birgitta AnderssonBirgitta AnderssonUlla Birgitta Helena Andersson Bye is a Swedish actress and comedian.Andersson is a very popular and well liked actress in Sweden....
as Ingrid Svensson-Guggenheim - Magnus HärenstamMagnus HärenstamJohan Herbert Magnus Härenstam is a Swedish television host, actor and comedian. Härenstam hosted the Swedish version of the game-show Jeopardy! for 14 years before being replaced by Adam Alsing...
as Hitler - Sune Mangs as Churchill
- Yngve GamlinYngve GamlinYngve Gamlin was a Swedish actor and film director. His 1965 film The Chasers was entered into the 16th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Jury Prize.-Selected filmography:...
as Djagilev - Lisbeth Zachrisson as Olga
- Lena NymanLena NymanAnna Lena Elisabet Nyman was a Swedish film and stage actress.Having had her first film roles in 1955, Nyman had a role in Vilgot Sjöman's 491 and got her breakthrough in his I Am Curious , where she, in pseudo-documentary fashion, played a character of the same name as herself, and its sequel I...
as Sirkka - Tom Younger as Superintendent
- Rolv WesenlundRolv WesenlundRolv Helge Wesenlund is a Norwegian comedian, singer, clarinetist, writer, and actor.Wesenlund is most famous for having portrayed the title character in the movies Bør Børson, Bør Børson II, and the TV series Fleksnes Fataliteter...
as Grieg - Sven LindbergSven LindbergSven Lindberg was a Swedish film actor and director. He was born and died in Stockholm, Sweden.-Selected filmography:*Music in Darkness *Dreams *Musik ombord *Face to Face...
as Dr. Albert Schweitzer
Production
Gösta Ekman originally thought it would be funny to write a book about a place that you never visited. In the same manner it would be funny to do a biography about a person you never met. Like Mozart, JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
or Picasso.
Despite the fact that this movie is set in Spain, London, Paris, the French Riviera and America most of the movie was shot in and around the Swedish town of Tomelilla. Many of the scenes are filmed at the same street. Using a glasspainting in front of the camera and changing a few things on the set, the filmmakers could turn the little street of Tomelilla into all the big cities shown in this film.
All of Picasso's paintings for this movie were made by Per Åhlin
Per Åhlin
Per Johan Axel Åhlin , is a Swedish artist and animator.-Career:Åhlin started his career as an artist for the Hasseåtage production Svenska bilder from 1964. After that he has worked on several other Hasseåtage films, including The Adventures of Picasso from 1978 where he provided and animated...
. After the film's premiere the paintings by Per Åhlin were shown at a vernissage in Tomelilla with pricetags from 222 220 kronor
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
and up. All except one, Elsa Melon, that only cost 40 kr, but it was listed as already sold. Per Åhlin wanted the paintings to be destroyed after the vernissage so they wouldn't be spread as Per Åhlin-paintings when they were only "Per Åhlin-paintings that mimicked Picasso for a movie full of lies". According to the movie's commentary track by Gösta Ekman, some of the paintings were saved by the cast and crew who now keeps them in their houses.
Sirkka's song is actually a recipe for pastry of fish and bacon
Kalakukko
Kalakukko is a traditional food from the Finnish region of Savonia made from fish baked inside a loaf of bread. The Cornish pasty from Cornwall has the same basic idea of complete packed lunch. Kalakukko is very polular food in Savonia head city Kuopio. There is even Finland "Kalakukko" competition...
.
Release
The narration of this movie is the only thing that is dubbed into other languages, because of the multilingual dialogue. In all versions it is a man who introduces himself as a famous female. In Sweden the narrator introduces himself as "Elsa Beskow", in English it is Gertrude SteinGertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
, in Danish, Karen Blixen
Karen Blixen
Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke , , née Karen Christenze Dinesen, was a Danish author also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen. She also wrote under the pen names Osceola and Pierre Andrézel...
, in Norwegian, Margaretha Munthe and the French narrator introduces himself as Mistinguett
Mistinguett
Mistinguett was a French actress and singer, whose birth name was Jeanne Bourgeois. She was at one time the best-paid female entertainer in the world...
.
Years after the movie's release, when Gösta Ekman went down to Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
on vacation, he found that people looked at him in a very odd way. He eventually understood why when a local asked him if he were Picasso, to which Gösta replied, "If you mean that I played Picasso in a movie than, yeah, that's right." He later found out that the film was a great success in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, were it has been playing on a Budapest cinema every year since its release, and even had been turned into a stage play. Hans Alfredson
Hans Alfredson
Hans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson is a Swedish actor, film director, writer and comedian. He was born in Malmö, Sweden. He is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson...
, who wrote the script along with Tage Danielsson
Tage Danielsson
Tage Danielsson was a Swedish author, actor, poet and film director. He was born in Linköping and died in Stockholm...
and also starred as Pablo's father, has seen the play and liked it. He commented that "It was very faithful to the film."
Trivia
Magnus Härenstam who plays Hitler in this film later played Roger De Bris in a Swedish production of The Producers (musical)The Producers
The Producers commonly refers to Mel Brooks' series of comedic works about two con-men who attempt to cheat theater investors out of their money, only to have the scheme improbably backfire:...
, thus indirectly reprising his part of Hitler.