Max Beckmann is one of the greatest painters of the 20th century, but his art is not as friendly as many of his better-known peers. As the Yale Dictionary of Art puts it: "Beckmann's art is epic, dealing with great human themes; it is also a personal response to daily life and to contemporary themes; it depends on a private, unexplained repertoire of characters and symbolic objects. He developed for himself a grand theatrical manner combining traditional and modern elements. His paintings are grave assertions of the human spirit in the face of oppression. He himself spoke of them in contradictory terms, as my own 'sloughed off skin' and as 'a game of hiding oneself.'" Finally we have a film that opens up Beckmann's world and that allows us to confront with great insight his bold canvases, especially the massive masterly triptychs now scattered among diverse museums.
| Directed by | Michael Trabitzsch |
| Written by | Michael Trabitzsch |