The Mystery Of Picasso (DVD)

*This is not a comic! But I have fond memories of projecting this film when I was a projectionist in college. When Picasso says "give me a bigger canvas" two people would yank the curtains open from 1.33 (squarish) to 2.40 (super-widescreen) at the same time we'd do a reel changeover to a projector with an anamorphic lens for the final anamorphic reel of the film. Magical. 

By Henri-Georges Clouzot. Produced by Arrow Films. 

Region 2 DVD, 78 min, 1956. 

Henri-Georges Clouzot, best known for his classic French thriller Les Diaboliques, took
on a different mystery in 1956: the creative process and the essence of an artist, namely
Pablo Picasso.

Utilising transparent canvases so the camera of Claude Renoir could directly capture an
artwork s creation, Picasso created 20 artworks for the film. At first, these are simple
sketches in marker, but each grows in complexity until the final reel, when The Mystery
of Picasso switches to a CinemaScope ratio and bursts into colour.

One of the greatest documentary portraits of an artist of work, this release is
accompanied by two other films of Picasso: Paul Haesaerts BAFTA-winning A Visit to
Picasso from 1949 and a charming home movie by fellow artist Man Ray.

Special Features

• Standard Definition presentation, from materials supplied by Gaumont
• Original French mono audio
• Optional English subtitles
• A Visit to Picasso, Paul Haesaerts 1949 BAFTA-winning documentary on the painter,
• capturing Picasso at work in his Vallauris studio
• La Garoupe, a 1937 home movie by Man Ray, in black and white and colour, of Picasso
• and friends holidaying near Antibes