Watch Klimt

Klimt is a 2006 film that tells the story of the renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt (John Malkovich). The film revolves around his life, seen through a series of flashbacks and memories, and explores his artistry, loves, and obsessions. The movie begins with Klimt's death and then shifts into a series of flashbacks that show the artist’s life, including his successful exhibitions and the seductive and bohemian lifestyle of Vienna before World War II. Klimt is shown to be an artist with a singular vision, inspired by the beauty of the female form, with many of his most iconic paintings inspired by his muses.

The story is told through the eyes of an art historian, played by Saffron Burrows, who is researching Klimt's life for a book. She meets Klimt’s last mistress, Lea de Castro (Veronica Ferres), who is now an elderly woman, and learns about the artist's many affairs, including with Lea, a French-Jewish model he paints again and again. The movie shows Klimt’s struggle between romantic love and his artistic passion, made worse by Lea’s eventual marriage to a wealthy aristocrat.

Throughout the movie, Klimt is shown as a man obsessed with the beauty of the female form, both in art and in his affairs. He maintains friendships and collaborations with his fellow artists, including Egon Schiele, played by Stephen Dillane, and the famous composer Gustav Mahler.

The film does an excellent job of showcasing Klimt's artistry through stunning visuals, which use his paintings as inspiration for many of the movie's set pieces. The movie also shows Klimt’s life in Vienna and the surrounding countryside, with the city portrayed as a vibrant and creatively fertile place, full of bohemian artists and free-thinking souls.

One of the more notable scenes in the movie is a dream sequence where Klimt is transported to an abstract space and is shown the beauty of life and death through a series of erotic and otherworldly visions. The dream sequence is an example of the film's use of symbolism and free-form storytelling to explore the artist's mindset and vision.

There are many other standout moments in the film, from Klimt's conversations with Freud (played by Karl Markovics) to a haunting scene at the end of the movie where Klimt's coffin is transported through Vienna in a large public procession, highlighting the artist's impact on Viennese culture.

Overall, Klimt is a beautifully shot movie that tells an engaging story about an artist that many viewers may not be familiar with. The movie does an excellent job of shining a light on Klimt's work and the cultural milieu in which he lived, while also exploring the various loves and obsessions that drove him as an artist. This film is a must-watch for any art lover or anyone interested in the history and culture of Vienna in the early 20th century.

Klimt is a 2006 drama with a runtime of 2 hours and 11 minutes. It has received mostly poor reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 5.1 and a MetaScore of 44.