The Lives of the Artists

Review

This is a one off documentary about the inspiration behind a group of diverse contemporary artists, offering a hidden insight in lesser-known purveyors of the cultural zeitgeist.

The title is taken from a renaissance biography buy Giorgio Vasari (a sculptor and painter himself), not of artist’s work, but of their personalities. This is the premise behind his film, to expose their personal ambitions and what drives them to create. The films opening shot is an expansive montage of the three mediums of the featured artists; surfers Tom Lowe and Fergal Smith, snowboarder Xavier De Le Rue and punk band Gallows.

Whether surfers and snowboarders are artists is debateable, and in a way is part of the art itself and the questions that are raised by the film. Perhaps that is not the point as this film does not give opinion or pass judgement on form or content, it just shows the art in a passive way and allows the audience to make up their own mind. There is no introduction or ‘talking heads’ input from fans or critics, the only voice over is that of the artists themselves as they describe their motivations and insights into their creations.

The cut between each artist is sharp, thus allowing a comparison between them and of their respective passions, experiences, drives and ambitions. Although this documentary does show these in a creative and dynamic way with stunning cinematography creating a visceral experience for the viewer, it offers no comment on the art itself. In some ways this is a good thing as allows the viewer to experience the film on its own merits (as it is a piece of art itself) and to come to their own judgement on the film and its subject matter.

So if you want to see a documentary that gives genuine insight into an interesting, mostly less mainstream art form that is shot in a beautiful and thoughtful way, then this film is for you.

Defiance

Daniel Craig, Leiv Schriever and Jamie Bell play the Tulvski brothers as they hide from Nazi soldiers rounding up Jews in occupied Poland and Belarus. This becomes more difficult as their numbers in the forest begin to grow especially with the harsh winter and with inevitable human conflicts that arise. The film focuses mainly on the day-to-day interaction between the Jewish hideouts as well as the Russian partisans fighting the Nazis in guerrilla attacks. This does delay the inevitable confrontation with the Nazis but despite this it is a well-made depiction with some fine performances from the main cast. The fact it is a true story and that it does not have the stock ending for a holocaust movie makes its all the more compelling.