the audience applauded

i must have seen a different film!!

Boring, long, and too preachy.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This movie simply spoils a great character and its incredibly rich environment with a long series of pseudo-romantic inventions, a poor direction, and an awful Andy Garcia. Too many facts are totally invented, and alter deeply the personality of Modigliani, as well as the real course of the events, relationships, and even time line (Edit Piaf was definitely not singing yet at the time of the movie). Some scenes are ridiculous, and the large use of little cinematographic tricks (such like Modi whistling the Italian anthem, the "hollywood manual" competition applause, to name a few) lower the level to unacceptable. Fully disappointing.

I just bought the DVD blindfolded in a way , without knowing much about the movie , Now I congratulate myself for this buy . The comments from this site are like from the agony to ecstasy , some are giving few stars 1 or 2 and others 10/10. I regret I did not give it a 10/10.Of course there are some goofs,mistakes,anachronisms ...etc.But you should get your attention to the story . Painters are artists and therefore they are not normal people , they can't be .An artist does not measure in material things . How much earned Phidias , or Ovid , or Aesop ? Their works lasts centuries and millenniums , time is the best critic . I felt sympathetic for Modigliani , for his tragic and sad life .But nothing was in vain.That is my opinion . Very moving film , touching . A must see ! I highly recommend it.

This is not a documentary. If you (unlike myself) are a versed art Historian, you may well have issues with some of Davis's choices regarding his portrayal of famous Art personalities. If, however, you simply enjoy a subtly crafted film that works by layering image, sound and metaphor, then this film is for you. It doesn't set out to clunkily 'explain' artistic motivations ( a wise choice from Mike Davis,-for who can ever really claim to know 'why' an artist does what he/she does) but rather presents an ethereal collage of colour, sound and minimal script and allows the audience to draw its own conclusions about the life and motivations of Modigliani and those surrounding him. Garcia does a credible job of bringing Modigliani's addict soul to the screen and for all his faults, is an eminently watchable actor throughout the 2hrs of screen time. Elsa Sylberstein is hauntingly beautiful (is somewhat challenged in the accent department), and the film's soundtrack (Operatica derived) perfect. A thoroughly enjoyable decadence,-best enjoyed with a bottle of red and some great chocolate.

This is a movie about painters in Paris that tells us nothing about painting and shows us nothing of Paris. (Even a little stock footage would have been welcome.) The most profound observation anyone in the movie makes about Modigliani's work is that he exaggerates the length of the neck. To add a little excitement to the mix, characters fire guns in one another's general direction (twice) and the manner of Modigliani's death is irresponsibly fictionalized. At least I consider it irresponsible, because people will come to the movie not knowing the facts and come away thinking they've learned them. Andy Garcia is to be commended for taking the title role-- Modigliani is worth a movie, and I'm sure no one set out to make it a bad one-- but he is less convincing and interesting than the supporting actors who bring Soutine, Utrillo, and especially Renoir to life.