Rent Daliland (2022)
2.8 of 5 from 84 ratings
1h 33min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
From the Director of 'American Psycho', Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley stars as the great surrealist artist, Salvador Dali. In 1970s New York, Dali enjoys the latter stage of his career with a lifestyle filled with luxury and extravagant parties. Surrounded by his own decadence, and his band of eccentric followers (Rupert Graves, Suki Waterhouse, Andreja Pejic) who worship his charismatic persona, he is content with avoiding a fast-approaching art show and the demands of his formidable wife, Gala (Barbara Sukowa). The story is told through the eyes of James Linton (Christopher Briney), a young gallery assistant, keen to make his name in the art world. After quickly becoming enraptured by the provocative world of Dali, the facade begins to fade when he uncovers that behind the glitz and glamour lies a fragile genius, haunted by the past and unprepared for the changing tide of the world around him. - Actors:
- Ben Kingsley, Barbara Sukowa, Ezra Miller, Christopher Briney, Rupert Graves, Andreja Pejic, Alexander Beyer, Mark McKenna, Zachary Nachbar-Seckel, Avital Lvova, Eithne Browne, Marcos D'Cruze, Irina Leoncio, Alberto Maneiro, Matthew James Ovens, Christopher Pavlou, Merce Ribot, Jack Shalloo, Gavin Spokes, Suki Waterhouse
- Directors:
- Mary Harron
- Producers:
- Daniel Brunt, Chris Curling, Edward R. Pressman, Sam Pressman, David O. Sacks
- Writers:
- John Walsh
- Studio:
- Kaleidoscope Home Ent.
- Genres:
- Drama
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Reviews (2) of Daliland
Soft Porn dressed up as an "arts" film - Daliland review by AS
Despite a fine acting performance by Ben Kingsley, this film is a soft porn disaster, unless of course you are looking to goggle at Soft Porn. Maybe that's what Dali was really about -- I don't know, I never met him.
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Despite some good costumes & sets, this is a dull biopic about an artist who was anything but - Daliland review by TB
After American Psycho, I would watch anything Mary Harron directed/wrote/produced. Her latest effort, Daliland, should be right up her street: extremely idiosyncratic & difficult artistic genius, who was known as much for his highly unconventional personal life as for the masterpieces he came up with. But despite this rich vault of cinematic potential, the main feeling I had whilst watching it was boredom.
For example, I don't remember seeing another film which showed excesses of drugs, parties & debauchery being so dull. A threesome so uninspired, you wonder what the onlooking Dali found so exciting about it. Whilst there has been many films made about the put-upon assistant to the difficult/demanding protagonist, these can often descend into naval-gazing.
There is some good set designs & costumes, plus the production department does an incredible job of turning Liverpool into an authentic & believable stand-in for 70's New York City. I also liked the way it was shot, with a soft focus & colour palette.
As for the performances, Christopher Briney does his best, channelling blue-eyed innocence with a subtle iron-will to immerse himself in the orbit of Dali & his entourage, but he never manages to be anything more than mediocre. Ben Kingsley, a powerhouse actor and capable of sledgehammer-impactful performances (Sexy Beast,) here plays Dali as a narcissistic & incredibly difficult artistic genius filled with various ticks & idiosyncrasies.
And whilst I have no doubt that that was probably what Dali was like, watching it without a good story behind it is just tiresome. If I wanted to watch a spoilt brat being fawned over by various acolytes, I can just put Trump's name into YouTube...
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