Originally Published: 2005-02-06

The recent theft of Edvard Munch's anxiety-ridden masterpiece "The Scream" from a museum in Oslo has prompted the theatrical re-release of Peter Watkins' critically acclaimed 1976 biopic, Edvard Munch. This absorbing portrait of a troubled artist manages to convey the haunting inspiration for Munch's masterpieces with intense clarity and perfection.
Watkins focuses on Munch's troubled childhood, establishing the elements that were to haunt the artist (Geir Westby) continually and dictate the nature of his artistic preoccupations. There is a steady overlapping of action and intrusive memory interrupted by a moment of love with his "Mrs. Heiberg" (Gro Fraas). These incidents provoke images of bloody illness, domestic repression and tormented passion. As he becomes more prolific as a young adult, his art is met with derision in his native Norway, at the time a hotbed for artists and intellectuals crowding together, plotting to change Norwegian society.
At over three hours, Edvard Munch may not be suited for the average viewer. Westby's almost catatonic performance and Watkins' non-traditional technique may add to the tedium for non-art film lovers.
That said, Edvard Munch is one of the best artist-biography films ever to hit the screen, big and small.

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