Product Details

• Actors: Jackson Pollock, Ed Harris, Ruth Kligman, Lee Krasner, Neil Pearson
• Directors: Teresa Griffiths
• Producers: Teresa Griffiths, Andrea Miller
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Homevision
• VHS Release Date: September 21, 2001
• Run Time: 46 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0780023390
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,704 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  Video > Documentary > Art & Artists > Art History

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Although it begins with the police report of his death in a 1956 car accident, this BBC effort quickly backtracks to the birth of Jackson Pollock's fame seven years earlier with the memorable Life magazine question: "Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" While the answer is still hotly debated, the fact that he became the most famous painter of that time is not. This 46-minute documentary concentrates on the intense glare of celebrity and its effect on Pollock's work and life. Because he allowed documentary makers unprecedented access to his process, this film is loaded with images of Pollock at work on his physically active--and therefore dramatically engaging--style of drip painting. His own voiceovers as well as those of his wife and champion, fellow painter Lee Krasner, are intercut with more recent interviews with poets, friends, biographers, and his lover, Ruth Kligman, who survived the deadly crash. Joining his old acquaintances is Ed Harris, director and star of the 1999 film Pollock, who speaks to the paralyzing combination of self-doubt and alcoholism that proved this artist's undoing. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Product Description
In the late forties Life magazine featured a shy, brooding artist with a cigarette jutting from his mouth as he stood dwarfed by a canvas displaying a nearly indescribable orchestration of chaos. Overnight, millions of Americans received this image in their homes and businesses, and the legend of Jackson Pollock was born. Soon his controversial work and defiant attitude made him at once the star and the scourge of the art world. In the end, his tragic death at the top of his career, cemented his image forever as the James Dean of artists. This documentary traces the life and work of Jackson Pollock through revealing interviews and archival footage. Among the voices that relate the legacy are Lee Krasner, Pollock's wife and fellow artist, and Ed Harris (director and star of the film Pollock).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a Pollock movie that keeps us awake!, October 12, 2000

By	Michael Freitag (Joliet, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

WOW! Though this is not actually the movie Pollock, and actually a 40 minute biography/precursor to the movie, it was wonderful! It had several interviews with freinds, fellow artists and other misc. aquaintences of Jackson's in it from Ruth Klingman to Kirk Varnedoe. They were short to the point and all very interesting, especially the Cedar Bar bar tender stories! In addition it had footage from the famous Hans Namuth movies of him at work and when he painted on glass while the camera was underneath(very hard to find footage!) This is a must to any Pollock freak. Caution there is some language unsuitable for classroom usage. Well worth the money if you like JP.

8 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars DESPERATE SANITY?, February 15, 2002

By	Robin Simmons (Palm Springs area, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Jackson Pollock - Love & Death on Long Island (DVD)

Since documentaries are featured as extras on many DVDs, there's a growing appetite for this cinematic art form. Criterion is feeding that craving with a series of fascinating glimpses into extraordinary real lives.

The artistically apposite worlds of Jackson Pollock, and Robert Crumb are revealed in "JACKSON POLLOCK: LOVE AND DEATH ON LONG ISLAND" and "THE CONFESSIONS OF ROBERT CRUMB". Striking views of Pollock's work are commented on by artists including his wife, painter Lee Krasner. Ed Harris, the star and director of the Academy Award© winning film "Pollock" discusses Pollock's blazing rise to fame and his difficulties coping with it.

A sad look at the destructive, hyper life of a madman. Is being an artist, by definition, a kind of insanity?