'Daliland' Review: Ben Kingsley and Ezra Miller Get Surreal in Mary Harlan's Eye-Opening Art-World Portraits

An indulgent portrait of a celebrity in the art world, seen by a young man who still has some fantasies to shatter, by Mary Harlan ) Daliland revolves around the veritable surrealist, played with restraint and dignity by Ben Kingsley , While gently pushing the spotlight in the direction of his complicated wife/muse Gala, a character, Barbara Sukowa doesn’t just win the movie’s attention. Much of the talk of the premiere will involve scandal-plagued co-star Ezra Miller , who briefly played the young artist; but it turns out, The casting of the film is so apt, and aside from that particular tabloid legend, the movie deserves to be judged — if its storytelling is all too familiar, it’s enjoyable and illuminating.

Public life and the art of Salvador Dali are almost inseparable from the art of Andy Warhol (Harlan’s early theme, in of I Shot Andy Warhol), so our introduced him to —Through the eyes of James (Christopher Bryony), the New York gallery’s newest employee dealing with Dalí’s work — at a party: a decadent party at noon, in a suite at the St. Regis Hotel, featuring Spanish artists Stays every winter for years. Alice Cooper (one of the most notorious celebrities of the day) barely made a splash. Like everyone there, he was there because he was interested in Dalí.

Daliland

BOTTOM LINE
Interesting and really eye-opening.

Location:

Toronto International Film Festival (Gala Presentations)1974 Cast: Ben Kingsley, Barbara Sukova , Christopher Brinny, Rupert Graves, Alexander Baier, Andrea Pejic, Mark McKenna, Zachary Naheba-Seckel, Avital Lvova, Suki Waterhouse , Ezra Miller
1974 Director: 1974 Mary Harlan

Screenwriter: 1974 John C. Walsh
1 Hours Minutes

Still his wife’s. James is sent by Dalí’s gallerist Christopher (Alexander Beyer) to bring Gala Dalí a briefcase full of cash, and tells her to expect she wants something else too. A woman with an “electric eel-like libido”, she added pretty boys to the couple’s entourage as freely as he had added women – though, unlike Salvador, who was allegedly celibate, she actually sleep with them.

James was warned to reject her progress without hurting her feelings, which was easier than usual because Gala had already put her body And the heart was handed over to Jesus: that is, to newcomer Zachary Nachbar-Seckel’s Jeff Fenholt, currently playing the Messiah in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Clueless Jeff is here for comic relief and social intrigue, but his presence also allows Harron and screenwriter John C. Walsh to shed light on Dalís’ creative/business partnership . In the early years, El Salvador painted while Gala did the hard work of finding a buyer. She established him, but didn’t share his glory, especially after Hollywood embraced him and (she thought) sneeringly asked him why he was marrying some old lady.

In Jeff, she has another artist to nurture, although her genius is only visible to her. No matter how cartoony her current obsession may be, the film is a quiet but utterly serious account of her wounded self-esteem and her untold importance to the career of art stardom.

Her importance is not unknown to El Salvador. James witnesses a mysterious partnership in which ostensible betrayal makes no sense but small moments of disrespect are tightly policed. As Salvador recounts the beginnings of their romance, Kingsley doesn’t indulge.

As he speaks to James, the two are transported to the rocky coast where the couple meet: when the young painter first sees Gala from a distance , a stunned Miller, desperately trying to get the right look in casual art style, then walked up to the young woman and immediately collapsed hysterically. Dalí said that in his youth he was given “a lot of fear and strange laughs”; but Galla didn’t think he was crazy. That fact alone explains his loyalty and needed dedication half his life.

James has started working as a painter’s assistant, and Christophe is tasked with making sure he creates enough work for the upcoming show. Between his chores and meaningful conversations, he learns more about this tiny ecosystem from other residents: Captain Moore (Rupert Graves), who is Gala’s secretary, and (sadly) Yes) knows their finances better than anyone; El Salvador’s current muse, Amanda Lear (transgender model Andrea Pejic), is rumored to be “he” when they met; and Suki Waterhouse’s Ginesta, who admits she’s just “jewelry” in this world, is “pretty thing at a party”, but in the end it doesn’t matter.

(Ginesta and James are having an affair, which is a big part of his introduction to the sophisticated life of the city. But Amanda will end up being unconventional for Dallis Lifestyle offers the most empathetic point of view.)

The perspective and tight chronology of the pictures help it avoid many of the familiar biographical pitfalls. We are only on this journey as long as it takes to make pieces for this important exhibition, and then retreat briefly to Spain after the failure. Bryony keeps James’ eyes wide open, but not naive enough to be smart enough to accept the incongruous new parts of the picture without buying into every rationalization handed to him.

The focus of the film is that James is an award-baiting show that stops Dalleyland from being a great performance one of several things. That’s lucky, because while Kingsley is funny, charismatic, and completely convincing, Sukowa meets him on every level and has enough script sympathy to (very) occasionally steal the movie from him . Of course, the film makes the marriage look as mesmerizing as any canvas or sculpture Salvador Dalí has ​​ever made — and makes the carnival that surrounds the couple, however important to their dynamism, compared to Underneath it seemed bland.

1974 Full credits 1974

Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Gala Presentations)

Production companies: Pressman Film, Zephyr Films
1974 Cast: Ben Kingsley, Barbara Sukova, Christopher Bryony, Rupert Graves, Alexander Baier, Andrea Pejic, Mark McKenna, Zachary Naheba-Sekel , Avital Livova, Suki Waterhouse, Ezra Miller
Director: Mary Harlan
Screenwriter: John C. Walsh

Producers: Edward Pressman, David O. Sacks, Daniel Brent, Chris Cullin, Sam Pugh Reisman

1974 Photography Directed by: Marcel Zyskind Produced Designer: Isona Rigau Heras
Costume Designer : Hannah Edwards

Music: Eh Demond Bart

1974 Edit: Alex Mackie

1974 Casting: Kerry Bardem, Cohen Jones, Paul Shney Sales: CAA

1 hour Minutes 1974 THR Newsletter

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