A portrait of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt whose lavish, sexual paintings came to symbolize the art nouveau style of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Cinematography
Every frame looks like it wants to be kissed. Liquid gold everywhere.
Acting
Malkovich doing that thing where he's barely awake yet completely commanding.
Costume
Silks, feathers, and enough ornamentation to bankrupt a minor empire.
Director
Raúl Ruiz
John Malkovich
Gustav Klimt
Veronica Ferres
Midi
Saffron Burrows
mia
Nikolai Kinski
Egon Schiele
Stephen Dillane
Secretary
Sandra Ceccarelli
Serena Lederer
Aglaia Szyszkowitz
Mizzi
Joachim Bißmeier
Hugo Moritz
Ernst Stötzner
Minister Hartl
Paul Hilton
Duke Octave
Annemarie Düringer
Klimt's Mother
Irina Wanka
Berta Zuckerkandl
Florentin Groll
Messerschmidt
Miguel Herz-Kestranek
Dr. Stein
Marion Mitterhammer
Klimt's Sister
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Raúl Ruiz filmed this while dying of cancer; he passed away in 2011. The film's preoccupation with death and legacy feels almost prophetically personal.
The real Klimt never painted a self-portrait, claiming he was 'less interesting than his work.' Malkovich's performance deliberately obscures the man behind the myth.
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