Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon

Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)

  • 68% of critics liked it
    (19 reviews)

  • 59% of users liked it
    (1,965 ratings)

This British biographical drama probes the life of painter Francis Bacon (1909-1992), critically acclaimed as the outstanding British painter of the latter half of the 20th Century. This unsympathetic portrait of Bacon (Derek Jacobi) begins when George Dyer (Daniel Craig), a small-time criminal from… More

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Unrated,
Directed By
Written By
John Maybury
Genres
Drama
In Theaters
Oct 9, 1998 Wide
On DVD
Apr 4, 2000
British Film Institute

Critic Reviews

  • Anton Bitel, Film4

    a celluloid portrait every bit as grimly disturbing as anything that Bacon himself produced, and far too darkly imaginative to be tarred with the 'biopic' brush.

  • Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

    Powerfully well-acted.

  • Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    But whatever I think of Bacon and his art work I was, nevertheless, still dazzled by the breathless performance of Derek Jacobi...

  • Arthur Lazere, culturevulture.net

    a riveting and disquieting portrait of a riveting and disquieting painter

  • Peter Henne, Film Journal International

    Looking through a color art book on Bacon actually would make an appropriate substitute to watching the film.

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Featured Audience Ratings

  • Randy T


    "...we all have nightmares. They can't be as horrific as life." Deep, dark and unsettling. An artful obliteration of the line between genius and madness.

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Cast

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