The movie is the story of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio who was an Italian painter in the 16th century, through the eyes of the Pope's investigator. He was known for painting "what he saw", some kind of reality that he wanted close to the divine, which was of course not ok with the Catholic Church. Within his paintings, you could see famous prostitutes, hoboes, represented as saints, such as Mary or St Peter. His life has multiple legends around it, he was known to have sexual relationships with both males and females, while painting for the Church, and his competitors tried to destroy him for that. He had to flee Rome after killing (accidentally?) someone and lived in Naples, Sicily, Malta, etc. The story of the movie is a bit long, but this is not why you should see this movie. The whole movie is staged as a painting, with that kind of atmosphere that you get from 16th century Italian paintings. Would I watch it again? No, but I am happy I watched it.
7 Reviews
Gorgeous examination of an irresolvable contradiction
JoeyJKKF4 November 2023
Caravaggio's Shadow is a fever dream of a film, vividly photographed and convincingly played by an (unsurprisingly) handsome Italian cast.
There's plenty of melodrama, but it's an Italian period piece; anything less would have felt restrained.
At the heart of it is an irresolvable contradiction: the Vatican and papacy are the immensely rich and powerful core of Catholicism, but Catholicism is anchored by the teachings of Jesus, friend of the poor, the outcast and the desperate. What happens when the Vatican's most talented painter - a devout genius - uses the poor, the disgraced, and the outcasts of society as his subjects in seeking the truth of scripture?
Expect plenty of debauchery, plenty of on-location renaissance architecture, some intrigue, and even some swashbuckling swordfighting.
Worth your time.
There's plenty of melodrama, but it's an Italian period piece; anything less would have felt restrained.
At the heart of it is an irresolvable contradiction: the Vatican and papacy are the immensely rich and powerful core of Catholicism, but Catholicism is anchored by the teachings of Jesus, friend of the poor, the outcast and the desperate. What happens when the Vatican's most talented painter - a devout genius - uses the poor, the disgraced, and the outcasts of society as his subjects in seeking the truth of scripture?
Expect plenty of debauchery, plenty of on-location renaissance architecture, some intrigue, and even some swashbuckling swordfighting.
Worth your time.
Turgid and lacking narrative subtlety.
marsh-victor20 October 2023
The hypocrisy of key Church figures who condemn the sensuality of the painter, all the while competing to hoard his art seems bizarre, the figure of Caravaggio becomes an attractive and sympathetic revolutionary hero in a secular era. While his animalistic rutting grosses me out he gets the best lines. The investigator who travels around interviewing witnesses is so intent on his task he becomes one-dimensional. But the film suffers from such poor narrative construction that it becomes tedious and repetitive, gradually dulling my interest. If the powerful originality of the artist's output were shown more clearly I would have found it more enjoyable.
for art lovers
ccarriere-4304413 December 2023
Carravaggio
For fully appreciate this movie, it help to be a fan of the work of the painter ...as one understand more what was the motivation behind his choices , and why his works were so controversial yet so good...the Catholic Church at the time was the Church, the only one yet the rise of what would become the Protestant churches were making the Vatican nervous.
The conflict between the reality of life of the average people and the grandiose representation of the saints ...had no much income ...
Knowledge of some of the work of Caravaggio help understanding lots of scenes in this movie ...and what makes his work so good is what was no conceivable at the time...that you could use the face of common daily people to personified a saint , an angel ..which of my God of the time had no gender, no sex...
For fully appreciate this movie, it help to be a fan of the work of the painter ...as one understand more what was the motivation behind his choices , and why his works were so controversial yet so good...the Catholic Church at the time was the Church, the only one yet the rise of what would become the Protestant churches were making the Vatican nervous.
The conflict between the reality of life of the average people and the grandiose representation of the saints ...had no much income ...
Knowledge of some of the work of Caravaggio help understanding lots of scenes in this movie ...and what makes his work so good is what was no conceivable at the time...that you could use the face of common daily people to personified a saint , an angel ..which of my God of the time had no gender, no sex...
Excellent movie
ralucaelenaganea1 February 2024
I have watched the movie at the cinema, in Timisoara. The movie looks to carefully illustrate the life of the painter. The actors and the actresses are very nice interpretating their roles. The scenes, the costumes, the colours and the decorations are very loyal to the XVII secol, when Caravaggio lived. The main actor, playing as Caravaggio, is a great actor, full of passion.
It is interesting, and still present on our days) the conflict in understanding what is the good and what is bad, because the bad can be find in good and viceversa. And of course, this is an unique truth for each of us.
Even the movie is 2 hours long, I have not figured out when the time passed.
Congratulations to all actors and for the entire team of the movie!
It is interesting, and still present on our days) the conflict in understanding what is the good and what is bad, because the bad can be find in good and viceversa. And of course, this is an unique truth for each of us.
Even the movie is 2 hours long, I have not figured out when the time passed.
Congratulations to all actors and for the entire team of the movie!
Came for the art, got telenovela
fildaskacel24 February 2024
I just thought that this movie about such big artist would have more art in it. The process and the hard work. Instead, all I got was already finished paintings and an italian telenovela with more dialogue than Nolan's Oppenheimer, with no time to absorb the beauty of the cinematography and the poetic essence of Caravaggio's life and his work.
But I thought using Schatten's perspective of interviewing Caravaggio's models and other people he met and capturing their narratives and stories so the viewer can learn more about the artist was smart and the story came nicely full circle at the end. But that still doesn't compensate the rest for me.
Riccardo Scamarcio has a nice butt tho.
But I thought using Schatten's perspective of interviewing Caravaggio's models and other people he met and capturing their narratives and stories so the viewer can learn more about the artist was smart and the story came nicely full circle at the end. But that still doesn't compensate the rest for me.
Riccardo Scamarcio has a nice butt tho.
WTF? NOT AN OSCAR MATERIAL!
rastislav-0044021 January 2024
What the heck was that? Messy, hyperbolic, and porny. Despite all the known facts about Caravaggio and his kinks, he really did not deserve this. This is not your usual family watch. LOL. Why all those overstretched, explicit scenes? We got the memo, but anyway. Who cares? Total caricature. Lack of seriousness, lack of any attempt at least some form of introspection and real context, lack of everything. Consult with historians! Come on, Giuseppe! Don´t make niche, "artsy" movies for 8 nerdy folks in Calabria; broaden your audience. There is no way that any teacher with a sound mind will recommend this to anyone. No doubt, individual actors have amazing potential, but you need to write a good script first for them first! And yes. Weird, smoky light. Hazy. Were there really no crisp colours in the 17th century? Doubt that. Also, costumes. Not pretty; low effort! So, kids, go and watch Ridley Scott´s Napoleon or Coppola´s Marie Antoinette instead.
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