''Surviving Picasso'' is a 1996 American biographical

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by James Ivory and starring

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...

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 (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

. It was produced by Ismail Merchant and David L. Wolper. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's screenplay was loosely based on the 1988 biography ''Picasso: Creator and Destroyer'' by Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington.

Plot

The young artist Françoise Gilot meets Picasso in Le Petit Benoit, a little Left Bank bistro, during Nazi-occupied Paris, where Picasso invites her and her friend to visit him at his home and studio at 7 Rue des Grands-Augustins. After doing so and flirting with Picasso she decides to become a painter against her father's wishes. Françoise is beaten by her father after telling him she wants to be a painter, rather than a lawyer. Picasso encourages her to paint and a love affair develops between them and she eventually moves in with him, even as Picasso is shown as often not caring about other people's feelings, firing his driver after a long period of service, and as a womanizer, saying that he can sleep with whomever he wants. We see other scenes of seduction, quarrels, and selfishness, but Picasso and Françoise have two children and move to the South of France near

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, but problems persist. In addition to Françoise, the film depicts several of the women who were important in Picasso's life, such as Olga Khokhlova, Dora Maar, Marie-Thérèse Walter, and Jacqueline Roque. The film ends when Françoise leaves Picasso over his coldness and his growing relationship with Jacqueline Roque, who moves in with Picasso and replaces her.

Cast

* Natascha McElhone as Françoise Gilot *

Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress and children's author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent ...

as Dora Maar * Joss Ackland as

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

* Dennis Boutsikaris as Kootz * Peter Eyre as Jaime Sabartés * Peter Gerety as Marcel * Susannah Harker as Marie-Thérèse Walter * Jane Lapotaire as Olga Khokhlova * Joseph Maher as Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler * Bob Peck as Françoise's Father * Joan Plowright as Françoise's Grandmother *

Diane Venora Diane Venora is an American stage, television and film actress. She graduated from the Juilliard School in 1977 and made her film debut in 1981 opposite Albert Finney in ''Wolfen (film), Wolfen''. She won the New York Film Critics Circle Award fo ...

as Jacqueline Roque * Dominic West as Paulo Picasso * Laura Aikman as Maya Widmaier-Picasso

Production

The Merchant-Ivory team was not able to obtain the rights to Gilot’s own autobiography, or the permission to show any of Picasso’s artwork. Commissioned fake Picasso paintings were made for the film that was shot in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and in the South of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

on ''Surviving Picasso''

Reception

Critical response

Box office

In the United States and Canada, ''Surviving Picasso'' grossed $2 million at the box office, against a budget of $16 million.

References

External links

* {{Pablo Picasso 1996 films 1996 drama films 1990s American films 1990s biographical drama films 1990s English-language films American biographical drama films Biographical films about painters Cultural depictions of Henri Matisse Cultural depictions of Pablo Picasso Films based on biographies Films directed by James Ivory Films produced by David L. Wolper Films set in Paris Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films shot in France Films shot in Paris Films with screenplays by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Merchant Ivory Productions films The Wolper Organization films Warner Bros. films Films scored by Richard Robbins English-language biographical drama films