Love Is the Devil
164
Released on Artificial Eye.
Small Box - Retail Tape
'Enormously impressive... The performances are terrific... tough, tender, wholly compelling'
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Starring Derek Jacobi as Francis Bacon, 'Love is the Devil' is the dazzling and audacious feature debut from one of Britain's most exciting young talents, John Maybury. It opens in 1971 at the Grand Palais in Paris, where Bacon is welcomed as the 'greatest living painter'. George Dyer, Bacon's model and lover, recalls the fateful day in 1964 when he met the artist whilst attempting to burgle his house.
The film captures the bohemian life of '60's Soho, an underworld of artists' models, East End thugs and infamous drinking den, the Colony Room, presided over by the hilariously foul-mouthed Muriel Belcher (Tilda Swinton). John Maybury's extraordinary study of bacon and his tumultous relationship with Dyer is a powerful testament to one of the twentieth century's greatest and most controversial artists.
'Derek Jacobi gives a ferocious performances as Francis Bacon' The Independent
'Pure genius... often hilarious' Boy George, Sunday Express
'**** A masterpiece' Uncut
'Jacobi gives the performance of his life' Daily Mail
'The most stimulating British film of the year' The Times
© BBC Films and BFI in association with Premiere Heure, Uplink and the Arts Council of England