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Telegraph
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Modigliani: Is Johnny Depp trying to tell us something with his biopic of a hell-raising genius?
Johnny Depp does not appear in his mangy biopic of Modigliani (Three Days on the Wing of Madness) which is undoubtedly for the best. At 62, he's far too old to be playing the now-legendary Italian artist, who died of tubercular meningitis in Paris, aged 35, in 1920, unloved by the French art establishment or practically anybody else. Even if things were otherwise, Depp-as-Modigliani might have been a gruesome prospect. The film (based on a 1980 play by Dennis McIntyre) follows the artist across three days of a hell-raising bender in 1916, abusing every substance and person within reach. Such a role is not the kind of comeback, after Depp's infamous legal battles with Amber Heard and sacking from the Fantastic Beasts franchise, that anyone would deem prudent. Instead, Depp directed this enervating portrait – the first time he's tackled a feature since his ill-fated 1997 collaboration with Marlon Brando, The Brave. He certainly brings an auteur personality to this picture. In the first scene, Riccardo Scamarcio's lusty Modigliani goads the customers in a Parisian bistro, uses a baguette as a lewd phallic prop, leaps on a trolley, and smashes out through a stained-glass window – a seemingly fictitious incident. Whatever kinship Depp may feel with this tortured, misunderstood, and regularly blotto artist is expressed, unfortunately, as a string of gruelling clichés. He seems most interested in depicting the bohemian art scene as one big pit of squalor, with painters urinating openly in the streets and rich patrons holding their noses. While this may be fundamentally accurate, it doesn't make for penetrating insights into the soul of our protagonist, nor for a viewing experience to cherish. Depp's wrangling of the supporting cast, who speak English with some squawkingly exaggerated accents, is so over-indulgent it would be cruel to name and shame his accomplices. But there are, thankfully, two honourable exceptions. As the famous Polish art dealer Léopold Zborowski, Adolescence star Stephen Graham finds a soft, placatory register that makes his scenes a safe haven. Meanwhile, Depp's old Donnie Brasco sparring partner, Al Pacino has one long seated rendezvous in a restaurant, playing the art collector Maurice Gangnat. With his wily technique, Pacino manages to coax the film out of its stupor for 15 good minutes. He's patronisingly chummy with Modigliani while hiding his gaze from the paintings, scrabbling around in a lemon meringue pie for distraction. 'You are not a painter – you are a sculptor!', he announces, dishing out unsolicited advice with a ladle. The scene has the rigour, clarity and credible acting – from Scamarcio, too – that so much of Depp's film otherwise lacks. Even afterwards, he finds solid gambits on which to end, giving us the closing image of an untouched block of plaster, and the tormented artist, who has set his work and his life on fire, starting again from scratch. If this is Depp's mission statement for career renewal, it may be hidden away under a great pile of steaming filth – but there we have it. 15 cert, 108mins. In UK cinemas from July 11
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness review – Johnny Depp's Modigliani as bohemian badass
Some very cliched roistering, life-affirming wine-drinking, bourgeois-defying artistic shenanigans here from the veteran screenwriting couple Jerzy and Mary Olson-Kromolowski who have adapted a 1980 stage play, Modigliani by Dennis McIntyre, about the Italian sculptor and painter Amedeo Modigliani, known as Modi. Johnny Depp directs and perhaps sees his subject as a bohemian badass not unlike Hunter S Thompson, whom he played in Terry Gilliam's 1998 movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – and perhaps not altogether unlike how he sees himself. It is 1916 in Paris and the brutality of war is destroying the belle époque; Riccardo Scamarcio plays Modigliani, a brilliant, sensual but penniless artist facing poverty and casual antisemitism. Having got into a chaotic affray at a pompous posh restaurant – filmed like a deleted scene from Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers – Modigliani has to lie low from the police and dreams of quitting Paris, to the bewilderment of his quaintly imagined artist comrades Maurice Utrillo (Bruno Gouery) and Chaïm Soutine (Ryan McParland), and his lover (and subject) Beatrice Hastings (Antonia Desplat). But according to his longsuffering dealer Léopold Zborowski (Stephen Graham) he has to wait three days for a certain wealthy collector to hit town – a collector that Zborowski assures Modigliani is interested in his work; this is Maurice Gangnat, played in cameo by Al Pacino. So Modigliani must go to ground, restlessly haunting the streets and the lowlife nightspots pursued by his own demons. This lavishly produced and costumed European co-production is handsomely cast – but the range of talent here feels wasted on what is a fundamentally dated and stereotypical drama, whose Bohemian passion is diluted. Scamarcio does his best and he is arguably the best actor for the job, but there is something rather shallow here. Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness is in UK cinemas from 11 July.
Irish Times
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Modigliani: Three Days on the Wing of Madness review – Is Johnny Depp's film a dud or a masterpiece? Prepare for disappointing news
Modigliani: Three Days on the Wing of Madness Director : Johnny Depp Cert : 15A Starring : Riccardo Scamarcio, Antonia Desplat, Bruno Gouery, Ryan McParland, Al Pacino, Stephen Graham, Luisa Ranieri Running Time : 1 hr 48 mins Large portions of the online population are, no doubt, greatly invested in Johnny Depp 's study of Amedeo Modigliani turning out to be a rampaging dud. Just as many – the section that tweeted swooning support during that court case – will have already decided it's the greatest masterpiece this side of Battleship Potemkin. I have disappointing news for both factions: the film will just about do. Three Days on the Wing of Madness (the title alone had me fanning a sweaty brow before the titles rolled) certainly has its moment of adolescent indulgence. Yes, there is a scene in which the artist takes loads of drugs – booze laced with hash and mushrooms – in a graveyard while fireworks clatter overhead. But brief research confirms that Modì, as he was to pals, did indeed indulge in what the Garda calls cannabis resin. True, Depp does manage to insinuate The Black Angel's Death Song, by The Velvet Underground, on to the soundtrack. But everyone does that sort of thing these days. It's 20 years since Sofia Coppola had Marie Antoinette promenade to New Order. So Three Days is no great shakes, but it is rarely embarrassing either. Adapted from a play by Dennis McIntyre – one that the movie's costar Al Pacino has been seeking to film for 50 years – the feature goes among Modigliani and his pals in an idealised Paris at the height of the first World War. READ MORE Riccardo Scamarcio , a big star in Italy, is well cast as a charmer whose self-belief is as much a professional handicap as it is an artistic accelerant. When Pacino's grand art dealer scorns Modì's paintings but offers a small fortune for a sculptured head, the dissolute genius turns him down flat. Not for sale. [ 'As Johnny Depp says, if Pacino comes to you and says do something it's better you do it' Opens in new window ] Ryan McParland is gaunt as Modì's friend and rival Chaïm Soutine. (The two painted well-known portraits of each other.) Stephen Graham has gruff fun with the influential dealer Léopold Zborowski. Antonia Desplat just about makes Beatrice Hastings, the English-born writer, poet and lover to Modì, come alive, despite underwritten dialogue. The more it goes on the clearer it becomes that, though Depp no doubt admires Modigliani's work, his real passion here is for the eternally intoxicating fantasy of Parisian bohemia. Scamarcio could be any of the thousand geniuses whose absinthe consumption condemned them to early death in the tenements of Montmartre. But that myth remains attractive for a reason. The romance still has purchase even in an entertainment as slight as this. In cinemas from Friday, July 11th
BreakingNews.ie
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Johnny Depp offered ‘trust and love' as a director says lead actor of Modigliani
Hollywood actor Johnny Depp offered 'trust and love' while directing a film about the artist Amedeo Modigliani, the movie's lead actor has said. The film, Modigliani – Three Days On The Wing Of Madness, is described as a '72-hour whirlwind' in the life of the bohemian artist, who is played by Italian actor and film producer Riccardo Scamarcio. Advertisement Speaking on the red carpet of the movie's UK premiere, Scamarcio told the PA news agency: 'It (shooting the film) was incredible because Johnny is … I felt a lot of trust from him and love. 'And this is all you need if you have to play a character of this kind. 'But anyway, if you have to be an actor in a film, from your director you need trust and love, and I felt that very much.' Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor during the late half of the 19th century and early 20th century who was known for creating portraits and nudes in a modern style that were seen as controversial for the time period. Advertisement Scamarcio told PA: 'He was an incredible character. He was an incredible painter, and, (he had) some anarchy, I have to say, and a lot of talent. 'But, you know, he's been recognised too late. What a shame.' Johnny Depp directed the biopic (Ian West/PA) The film also stars Adolescence actor Stephen Graham as art dealer Leopold Zborowski, and veteran actor Al Pacino as American collector Maurice Gangnat. Among the stars who attended the UK premiere was Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and his wife Sally, Sons Of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam, and a number of actors from the movie. Advertisement Last year, Scamarcio presented Depp with a lifetime achievement award at the Rome Film Festival in recognition of his 'extraordinary journey as a performer'. Depp has made a steady return to the spotlight in recent years following the conclusion of a high-profile defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard. The 62-year-old has starred in a host of films over the years but gained worldwide stardom for his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise. Modigliani – Three Days On The Wing of Madness is in cinemas from July 11th. Advertisement
Irish Times
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
‘As Johnny Depp says, if Pacino comes to you and says do something it's better you do it'
Riccardo Scamarcio pops up on my Zoom screen at a roadside cafe with a curtain of blue behind him. Darkly handsome in a crisp white shirt, he puffs on a cigarette – very old school – while answering in the most cleanly perfect English. He is crossing the mountains to Tuscany. The spirit of classic Italian cinema could hardly be better honoured if he were rendered in black and white. I mention this as his appearance reminds me of how Johnny Depp came to cast him as Amedeo Modigliani in the American actor's second feature as director. Modì: Three Days on the Wing of Madness follows the painter and sculptor as he cavorts through an earthily rendered version of early 20th-century Paris. There is a great deal of arguing in bars and necking in graveyards. Depp had arranged to talk to Scamarcio early in the evening, but he was forced to knock the meeting back by three hours. At that point the Italian was driving with his daughter and the nanny. He called into a petrol station. Happily, the staff recognised the star and allowed him to use a side building for the Zoom. Riccardo Scamarcio in a heavily romanticised Paris of 1916 in the film 'We were talking, and after a while Johnny says, 'Hey, man. Can I say something? Where are you?' There was stuff around for cars, oil, strange tools around me. I said, 'I'm sorry, Johnny, but I'm in the gas station. I was driving, and this is the only place I could stage the Zoom call.' He says, 'In a gas station!' I didn't know this at the time, but the producer was there off-screen. And Johnny said, 'He is in a gas station. This is my man!'' READ MORE This is how the business now works. You do press interviews in hillside cafes and take auditions in petrol stations. 'Yeah, it was rock'n'roll,' he says. 'Johnny is a very special person. He is very sweet and very gentle and very kind to every single one. He is a person who likes paradox.' Scamarcio, now in his mid-40s, has been exhaustingly busy in Italian cinema and TV for more than 20 years. Back in 2005 he was rough-hewn in the epic gangster flick Romanzo Criminale. He has worked with Abel Ferrara and Costa-Gavras. You can see him in Paolo Sorrentino's Loro , about Silvio Berlusconi, and Nanni Moretti's Three Floors. He doesn't need to stretch into English-language productions, but he, nonetheless, has been happy to show off his polyglottal talents in films such as John Wick: Chapter 2 and Kenneth Branagh's A Haunting in Venice . 'It's very important to work in other countries,' Scamarcio says. 'In English you have more opportunities. The market is bigger. I speak very fluent French too. So I've been shooting films in France. I'm very known in my country. When you work outside your country it's fantastic, because people don't know you, so nobody cares. They have no expectation from you, right? There is another level, which is the language. Acting in another language is like having a mask.' The long faces of Modigliani How familiar was Scamarcio with Modigliani before coming to the film? The elongated faces and mournful eyes that characterise his work are – though, as the film explains, underappreciated in his life – now an immovable part of the culture. That must be even more so in the artist's native Italy. 'Yes, of course. My mother is a painter,' Scamarcio says. 'I was obsessed with this big book that had pictures of his paintings and sculptures. My mother was always saying, 'Why is this boy so obsessed with this book?' Maybe it was a sign. I knew, of course, he had a very, very tough life.' It hardly needs to be said that Depp is currently a controversial character. The Kentucky actor – somehow now 62 – has been a ubiquitous presence since the late 1980s. He was Jack Sparrow. He was Sweeney Todd. He was in a rock 'supergroup' called Hollywood Vampires. (Three Days on the Wing of Madness is dedicated to late guitarist Jeff Beck.) Over the past decade, however, he has drawn more attention for an acrimonious split with Amber Heard that led, in 2022, to Depp suing his then former wife, who had accused him of physical abuse, in the United States, for defamation. Heard was found liable . Two years earlier he had lost in the British courts after suing News Group over allegations of abuse against Heard published in the Sun newspaper. The dispute has, to say the least, caused some division on social media. [ Who Trolled Amber? review: Relentless dig beneath Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard libel case makes a staggering revelation Opens in new window ] When the mess went away (for then, anyway) Depp returned to a project he had first discussed with Al Pacino decades earlier: a study of Modigliani adapted from a play by Dennis McIntyre. Indeed, Pacino, who has an amusing role in Three Days on the Wing of Madness as a flamboyant art dealer, had been toying with the idea way back in the 1970s. Martin Scorsese, Bernardo Bertolucci and Francis Ford Coppola were all involved in conversations about it. 'Pacino was supposed to direct this project, and then he didn't,' Scamarcio says. 'It was his passion project since when he was young. Then he met Johnny in Donnie Brasco and they become friends. Pacino says, 'I have this project. Maybe you could be perfect to play Modigliani.' So Pacino was supposed to direct the film and Johnny to play Modigliani. It didn't happen.' Scamarcio is politely euphemistic about his director's recent complications. 'I felt that my director, Johnny Depp, trusted me very much': Johnny Depp and Riccardo Scamarcio. Photograph:for The Red Sea International Film Festival 'Johnny had his problems that we all know,' he says. 'When he won the case and he was back, Al says, 'I think the moment is now correct for you to direct the film. I'm too old. I don't want to do it. You should do it.' And, as Johnny says all the time, if Pacino comes to you and says do something it's better you do it.' The resulting film is an amusing, anarchic romp through a highly romanticised version of Paris in 1916. As you might expect from Depp, there are a few rock'n'roll touches. At one stage The Black Angel's Death Song, by The Velvet Underground, and Tom Waits's Tom Traubert's Blues vie for our attention. None of this gets in the way of a hugely charismatic turn from Scamarcio. He does good work as a misunderstood master who can barely scrabble together a few sous for artworks that would later sell for millions. It is more than 28 years since The Brave, Depp's indifferently received directorial debut. Did Scamarcio feel he had what it takes behind the camera? 'Basically it is about trust,' he says. 'I felt that my director, Johnny Depp, trusted me very much. That is what it is all about. This is what an actor needs from his director. He needs to be loved and trusted. We did this journey together – experimenting things, changing, just trying to get some special life there. 'He was talking about Marlon Brando, when they were friends. We were talking about all the processes of being a cinema actor. For me, it confirmed all the things I believed when I think about my job. My job is to create an atmosphere.' For all the flash and bang of Three Days on the Wing of Madness, it is at its best in the conversational duel between Pacino and Scamarcio. The older actor is a marvel. After a few decades of chewing the scenery, he seems to have recovered an inner calm. 'He's still there, fighting as an actor and an artist,' Scamarcio says. 'But with the simplicity and the fairness and the honesty of a 20-year-old actor.' I wonder if Scamarcio could sense Pacino's Italian roots. The American is, after all, only one generation distant from Sicilian origins. 'Oh, yeah. Because, well, you can take away an Italian man from Italy, but you can never take Italy away from an Italian. You know what I'm saying?' Scamarcio does not seem to sleep. Early previews of the current film will feature a conversation, filmed at Tate Modern in London, between Scamarcio, Depp, the art critic Waldemar Januszczak and British artist Polly Morgan. He has another three Italian productions on the go. Will we hear him in English again soon? 'There is the international language – which is acting,' he says with a charming smile. 'Being alive on scene – and being obscene . Being obscene, which means 'out of scene'. It comes from the Greek.' I'll take his word for it. Educated man. Mod ì : Three Days on the Wing of Madness is in cinemas from Friday, July 11th, with previews on Thursday, July 10th
