The Mystery of Picasso
(Le Mystère Picasso)

Screening on Film

Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot.
France, 1956, 35mm, color and b&w, 78 min.
French with English subtitles.
Print source: Institut français

Clouzot's innovative spirit took full flight in his documentary homage to the infinitude of the human imagination and to his close friend, Pablo Picasso. Among the most rapturously cinematic portraits of an artist at work, Clouzot created spectacular effects by inviting Picasso to paint directly on a glass before the camera, the painters' strokes seeming almost to magically dance in the air. Each of Picasso's creations is cast as a suspense narrative, fraught with the tense uncertainties that vex even the master's hand and reveal painting to be a turbulent and enigmatic adventure.