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The cult movie was created in 1978 by the Swedish directors Tage Danielsson and Hans Alfredson (Don José, father of Picasso played by the latter in the film). Evoking the style and humour of silent movies the story is about Pablo Picasso’s life and career, however it obviously does not claim realism.

The absurd ideas, the unlimited imagination and the surreal images are great sources of humour that wonderfully match the peculiar stories and characters of Picasso’s life in Paris at the turn of the century, an era that was exceptionally dense and productive artistically.

 

It all begins with the birth of Picasso in Malaga, Spain. His father, Don José is an artist who recognizes his son’s talent quite at an early age: when Picasso makes his father’s sculpture of food. When Pablo is old enough, he is taken to Madrid to learn how to paint. His talent is quickly acknowledged and rewarded. Then he goes to Paris but his career just wouldn’t start. One day his father brings the sad news of his mother’s death. While Don José is eating an apple, Pablo paints the different states of the fruit as it lessens. The result is the birth of Cubism. These new style paintings are extremely difficult to sell. However the father manages to smuggle one into an exhibition where a visitor falls in love with it so much that she buys it despite public outrage. The woman is Gertud Stein, the famous writer. Picasso immediately gets into the centre of the artistic life in Paris. Braque, Matisse, Hemingway, Erik Satie, Apollinaire, Henri Rousseau, Vincent van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec are among his friends. After a great many adventures Picasso falls into his own trap: his art becomes industrial, his house is turned into a museum while he is still alive.   

 

As we now all know the famous song of Sirkka, the Finnish diva is actually a fish pastry recipe. Translation: “first take water, salt, then butter and flour and knead, knead, then knead. Then take fish and bacon and put it on the dough, darling. Put it in the oven to bake, and forget it for a while.”