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Pollock (film)

2000 film directed by Ed Harris

Pollock
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ed Harris
Screenplay by	Barbara Turner Susan J. Emshwiller
Based on	Jackson Pollock: An American Saga by Steven Naifeh Gregory White Smith
Produced by	James Francis Trezza[1] Fred Berner[1] Ed Harris[1] Jon Kilik[1]
Starring	Ed Harris Marcia Gay Harden Tom Bower Jennifer Connelly Bud Cort John Heard Val Kilmer Robert Knott David Leary Amy Madigan Sally Murphy Molly Regan Stephanie Seymour Matthew Sussman Jeffrey Tambor Sada Thompson Norbert Weisser
Cinematography	Lisa Rinzler
Edited by	Kathryn Himoff
Music by	Jeff Beal
Production companies	Zeke Films[1] Brant-Allen Films[1] Fred Berner Films[1]
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics
Release dates	September 6, 2000 (2000-09-06) (Venice) December 15, 2000 (2000-12-15) (United States)
Running time	122 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$10.5 million[2]

Pollock is a 2000 American independent biographical drama film centered on the life of American painter Jackson Pollock, his struggles with alcoholism, as well as his troubled marriage to his wife Lee Krasner. The film stars Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Connelly, Robert Knott, Bud Cort, Molly Regan, and Sada Thompson, and was directed by Harris.

Marcia Gay Harden won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for portraying Lee Krasner. Ed Harris received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Pollock. The film was a long-term personal project for Harris based on his reading of the 1989 biography Jackson Pollock: An American Saga, written by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith.

Plot[edit]

In the 1940s, abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock exhibits paintings in occasional group art shows.

Pollock lives with his brother Sande and sister-in-law Arloie at a tiny apartment in New York City. With Arloie expecting a new baby, Pollock decides to move out on her behalf. Soon afterward, Pollock meets and takes an interest in artist Lee Krasner. He learns later that his brother has taken a job in Connecticut building military gliders to avoid the draft.

Pollock, a struggling alcoholic, goes on a drinking binge and is found in a disheveled state by Sande and Lee to which Sande tells Lee that Pollock has been diagnosed as "clinically neurotic." Taking pity on Pollock, Lee takes him home and becomes his manager.

One day, Pollock's old friend Reuben Kadish visits him, bringing along Howard Putzel, who works for wealthy art collector Peggy Guggenheim. After Guggenheim views his work, he is given a contract to exhibit his paintings, plus a commission to paint a 8 ft by 20 ft mural in her New York townhouse entry way. Pollock's first exhibit fails to attract any buyers. After a New Year's Eve party, a drunken Pollock almost sleeps with Peggy. Afterwards, he falls into another stupor upon hearing that Putzel has died.

Pollock and Lee are wed after Lee says they either marry or "split up" before moving to Long Island. During a get-together at Peggy's, Pollock dismisses art critic Clement Greenberg's comments and refuses to change his painting style to be more marketable. Pollock's paintings are not selling but Clement assures him it will change after a Life magazine article about him is published and his upcoming exhibit.

Pollock and Lee's relationship is strained after he openly flirts with another woman. Meanwhile, to earn more income, Pollock tries various occupations but fails due to his alcoholism. He lies to Sande about his financial status, though this improves after the Life story about him is published. Later, cinematographer Hans Namuth films Pollock as he paints, though Namuth's presence interrupts the spontaneous nature of his work. Pollock, who tried abstaining from alcohol, inadvertently ruins Thanksgiving dinner upon relapsing.

In medias res to the events of the film, Pollock autographs a copy of the Life magazine to a fan at an art exhibit in 1950. Five years after the exhibit, Clement tells Pollock that the Partisan Review is favoring artist Clyfford Still, saying that his original technique could be the next direction of modern art.

A drunk Pollock reacts badly, becoming angrier when Lee berates him for his drinking and womanizing. By this moment, Pollock's marriage to Lee has become even more strained due to her refusal to conceive children with him, all of which has led Pollock to start an extramarital affair with teenage abstract artist Ruth Kligman.

In 1956, following a conversation with Lee over the phone while she is in Venice, Pollock tells Ruth "I owe the woman something." On a subsequent visit, Ruth brings along her friend Edith before the three go for a drive. An intoxicated Pollock crashes the car, killing himself and Edith, and throwing Ruth into a ditch, seriously injuring her.

A textual epilogue reveals Lee never remarried following Pollock's death.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

The film was adapted by Barbara Turner and Susan Emshwiller from the book Jackson Pollock: An American SagabySteven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. It was directed by Harris.

This film was a longtime passion project for Ed Harris.^[3] After his father gave him a copy of Pollock's biography, he started thinking about adapting it, which took almost 10 years to bring to fruition.

Filming took a mere 50 days with a six-week layoff after forty days so Harris could take time to gain thirty pounds and grow a beard.^[4]

Harris himself did all the painting seen in the film.^[4]

Reception[edit]

Critical response[edit]

Pollock received positive reviews from critics and has a score of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 110 reviews with an average rating of 6.9/10. The critical consensus states, "Though Pollock does not really allow audiences a glimpse of the painter as a person, it does powerfully depict the creative process. Harris throws himself into the role and turns in a compelling performance."^[5] The film also has a score of 77 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 31 critics..^[6]

Box office[edit]

Pollock opened on December 15, 2000 in the US and Canada in a limited release in 2 theaters and grossed $44,244 with an average of $22,122 per theater and ranking #37 at the box office. The film's widest release was 280 theaters and it ended up earning $8,598,593 domestically and $1,960,377 internationally for a total of $10,558,970.^[2]

Accolades[edit]

Soundtrack[edit]

The soundtrack to Pollock was released on February 13, 2001.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• PollockatIMDb
• PollockatAllMovie
• PollockatBox Office Mojo
• Breathing fire into an artist