"Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness" is a biographical drama directed by Johnny Depp, marking his return to the director's chair after over two decades. The film delves in three days in the life of Amedeo Modigliani, where he contemplates abandoning his career and fleeing Paris.
Riccardo Scamarcio gives a raw and magnetic performance as Modigliani, expressing his emotional inner turmoil, desperate for recognition. Al Pacino, as art collector Maurice Gangnat, represents the transactional nature of art and commerce in a way that highlights Modigliani's existential crisis.
The film's visual narrative, created by cinematographers Dariusz Wolski and Nicola Pecorini, is stunning. Shot in Budapest, Hungary, with washed-out blues for Modigliani's struggles and black and white sequences like the early silent cinema. The camera lingers on faces, emphasizing the psychological depth of its characters. Rather than giving a chronological retelling, Depp chooses to show us Modigliani's emotions, making his inner conflict the focus of the film.
"Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness" is a shoot character study, that prioritizes psychological depth over traditional storytelling. Depp's direction with Scamarcio's performance and the film's cinematography, creates a portrait of an artist at war with himself and the world around him. It's an abstract and introspective film that immerses us in Modi's world.
