"Final Portrait," a film about the life of Alberto Giacometti, is released in Italy

A film about the life of the great Alberto Giacometti (Borgonovo di Stampa, 1901 - Chur, 1966), starring Geoffrey Rush, winner of an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best actor, as the Swiss artist and Armie Hammer playing writer James Lord (Englewood, 1922 - Paris, 2009), is about to be released in Italian theaters. The biopic, titled Final Portrait and distributed by BiM, premiered in Berlin and then at the Torino Film Festival, and is scheduled for release in Italy on Feb. 8. It was written and directed by Stanley Tucci.

Here is the official synopsis of the film: “In 1964, during a brief trip to Paris, American writer and art enthusiast James Lord meets his friend Alberto Giacometti, an internationally renowned painter, who asks him to pose for him. The sessions, Giacometti assures him, will last only a few days. Flattered and intrigued, Lord accepts. It is not only the beginning of an unusual and touching friendship, but also--seen through Lord’s eyes--of an illuminating journey into the beauty, frustration, depth, and sometimes downright chaos of the artistic process. Final Portrait is a fascinating portrait of a genius and the story of a friendship between two profoundly different men, yet united by a constantly evolving creative act. The film also chronicles the difficulties of the artistic process-sometimes exhilarating, sometimes exasperating and bewildering-questioning whether the talent of a great artist is a gift or a curse.”

The ninety-minute film is based on James Lord’s autobiographical novel titled A Portrait of Giacometti, which tells precisely of the meeting in Paris between the young James Lord and the already advanced artist. Despite Giacometti’s promise to Lord that the portrait would require only one afternoon’s work, eighteen long posing sessions were required. The film was shot over four weeks at London’s Twickenham Studios, with sets set up by James Merifield, who relied on photos and footage from Giacometti’s studio. The Fondazoine Giacometti, which supervised the work of the artists employed in reproducing the paintings and sculptures found in the 1960s in the Swiss artist’s studio, also collaborated on the production. Costumes, on the other hand, were designed by Liza Bracey.

“I am a great fan of Giacometti’s work,” declares director Stanley Tucci. “I always have been. At some point I started reading all about him, including the book from which this film is based, A Portrait of Giacometti. I’ve been carrying it around for more than 20 years. I wrote this film ten years ago, or more. I’ve always been interested in the creative process: why an artist does what he does, the relationship to his work and to society.”

“I read the screenplay and immediately found it splendid,” said the lead actor Geoffrey Rush instead, “and when Stanley told me that the film seemed to be written especially for me I was flattered. It is a first-person account of the weeks James Lord had the experience of posing for an artist who was a living icon at the time. Lord makes a sharp and illuminating analysis of what are the artist’s dilemmas in the creative process.”

Pictured: a still from the film.

"Final Portrait," a film about the life of Alberto Giacometti, is released in Italy

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