Pollock is a 2000 American independent biographical drama film centered on the life of painter Jackson Pollock, his struggles with alcoholism, as well as his troubled marriage to his wife Lee Krasner. It stars Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Connelly, Val Kilmer, Robert Knott, Bud Cort, Molly Regan, and Sada Thompson. It was directed by Harris.
Harden won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for portraying Krasner. Harris received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Pollock. The film was a long-term personal project for Harris based on him having read the 1989 biography ', written by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith.
In the 1940s, abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock exhibited paintings in occasional group art shows. He lives with his brother Sande and sister-in-law Arloie at a tiny apartment in New York City. With Arloie expecting a new baby, Pollock decides to move out on her behalf. Soon afterwards, Pollock meets and takes an interest in artist Lee Krasner. He learns later that his brother has taken a job in Connecticut building military gliders to avoid the draft.
Pollock, a struggling alcoholic, goes on a drinking binge and is found in a disheveled state by Sande and Lee, prompting Sande to tell Lee that Pollock has been diagnosed as "clinically neurotic." Taking pity on Pollock, Lee takes him home and becomes his manager. Pollock's old friend Reuben Kadish visits him, bringing along Howard Putzel, who works for wealthy art collector Peggy Guggenheim. After Guggenheim views his work, he is given a contract to exhibit his paintings, plus a commission to paint a 8 ft by 20 ft mural in her New York townhouse entry way. Pollock's first exhibit fails to attract any buyers. After a New Year's Eve party, a drunken Pollock almost sleeps with Peggy. Afterwards, he falls into another stupor upon hearing that Putzel has died.
Pollock and Lee marry after Lee says they will either marry or "split up" before moving to Long Island. During a get-together at Peggy's, Pollock dismisses art critic Clement Greenberg's comments and refuses to change his painting style to be more marketable. Pollock's paintings are not selling but Clement assures him it will change after a Life magazine article about him is published and his upcoming exhibit.
Pollock and Lee's relationship is strained after he openly flirts with another woman. Endeavoring to earn more income, he tries working in various occupations but fails due to his alcoholism. He lies to Sande about how much money he has, although his financial status improves after the Life story is released. Later, cinematographer Hans Namuth films Pollock as he paints, though Namuth's presence interrupts the spontaneous nature of his work. Pollock, who tried abstaining from alcohol, inadvertently ruins Thanksgiving dinner upon relapsing.
In medias res to the events of the film, Pollock autographs a copy of Life for a fan at an art exhibit in 1950. In 1955, Clement tells Pollock that the Partisan Review favors artist Clyfford Still, saying his original technique could be the next direction of modern art. A drunk Pollock reacts badly and becomes angrier when Lee berates him for his drinking and womanizing. Pollock's marriage to Lee is even more strained due to her refusing to conceive children with him leading Pollock to start an extramarital affair with abstract artist Ruth Kligman.
In 1956, after a conversation with Lee on the phone while she was in Venice, Pollock told Ruth "I owe the woman something." On a subsequent visit, Ruth brought her friend Edith before the three went on a drive. An intoxicated Pollock crashed the car, killing himself and Edith, and throwing Ruth into a ditch, seriously injuring her. A textual epilogue reveals that Lee never remarried after Pollock's death.
The film was adapted by Barbara Turner and Susan Emshwiller from the book ' by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. It was directed by Ed Harris.
The film was a longtime passion project for Harris. After his father gave him a copy of Pollock's biography, he started thinking about adapting it, which took almost 10 years to bring to fruition. Filming took a mere 50 days with a six-week layoff after forty days so Harris could take time to gain thirty pounds and grow a beard.
Harris himself did all the painting seen in the film.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars and wrote, "Pollock is confident, insightful workâÂÂone of the year's best films. Harris is always a good actor but here seems possessed, as if he had a leap of empathy for Pollock. His direction is assured, economical, knows where it's going and what it wants to do. No fancy visual gimmicks, just the look and feel of this world."
Pollock opened on December 15, 2000 in the U.S. and Canada in a limited release in 2 theaters and grossed $44,244 with an average of $22,122 per theater and ranking #37 at the box office. The film's widest release was 280 theaters and it ended up earning $8,598,593 domestically and $1,960,377 internationally for a total of $10,558,970.
The soundtrack to Pollock was released on February 13, 2001.