Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998) Directed by John Maybury

"Take your clothes off and come to bed. Then you can have whatever you want."

That opening quote was the words of Painter Francis Bacon (Derek Jacobi) to the burglar who just fell through his skylight, George Dyer (Daniel Craig).  If Dyer had been brighter, he would have fled.  Instead, he stayed on, becoming Bacon's Galatea, his lover, his bodyguard, his muse, and his victim.

Bacon was a tortured genius.  He was in bed a masochist, and in relationships, a sadist.  As a gay man born in Ireland in 1909, Francis knew something of emotional battery.  His work reflected this, depicting the human form, distorted and in pain.  Powerfully evocative, they move the viewer.

George Dyer was a borstal boy with problems of his own; obsessive, neurotic, and an alcoholic (practically a prerequisite for admission to the Colony Club).  He initially intended to use and abandon Bacon, but was drawn into the latter's world.  And in spite of himself, he fell in love.  Beautiful, rough, demanding, he inspired Bacon to produce most of his greatest art.  Yet the toll on him is heart wrenching.  Their story is a swirling palate of gin, drugs, sex and emotion, and the abuse of all those things.

There are no paintings by Bacon in the film; the estate would not allow it.  And yet, you hardly need them.  The film itself is a pastiche to the artist; the palette is Bacon's, and the view is often in reflections of glasses, ashtrays, and doorknobs, distorting the face, mirrors rendering them into triptychs.  It is a living Francis Bacon picture.

Muriel Belcher (Tilda Swinton) holds the other strong role in this ensemble.  Belcher was the owner of the Colony Club, and the Queen b*tch around which the others congregated.

The story is not uplifting; it hardly could be, and be realistic.  Bacon was a deeply flawed man who allowed his problems to destroy his lover.  But what this movie gives us is an unflinching look at a scene, and a time, and the artists who made it.  It is wonderfully worthwhile not only for the sparse dissection of dysfunction but for the light it sheds on Bacon's genius.

And then there is the artistic merit.  John Maybury wrote and directed this work.  His insights into human ugliness are equally as profound as Bacon's own.   Derek Jacobi, of I, Claudius fame, is flawless as Bacon.  Of course, he is usually flawless about everything.  Tilda Swinton as the gin soaked harridan Belcher was almost unrecognizable.  And Daniel Craig, as the vulnerable child in a big butch boy/man's body.  Not only did the performance leave George Dyers' soul naked for us to view, the cinematography left Daniel Craig nude, extensively, full frontal.  And that is worth the price of admission right there.

Had Bacon been able to accept a little tenderness, instead of the just the strap, he might have given George Dyer more than just money, but a little of his heart as well, perhaps enough to have averted his suicide. 

But alas, that is the problem with history; you don't get to write the happy ending, and instead we have this uniquely telling biography of a genius, and the toll his craft took on those around him.

Gay Movies:

La Mission***Burnt Money***8: The Mormon Propo$ition***In The Flesh***The Sensei***The 24th Day***Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon***ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction***East Side Story***Dorian Blues***Creatures From the Pink Lagoon***Satyricon***Ice Men***Richard O'Briens Rocky Horror Tribute Show***Prom Queen***The Kids are All Right***Between Love and Goodbye***The Mudge Boy***That Man: Peter Berlin***A Single Man***Almost Normal***Outing Riley***Outrage!***Law of Desire***Love is the Devil***Cowboy Junction***Horror in the Wind***Bedrooms and Hallways***Cut Sleeve Boys***Big Eden***For A Lost Soldier***Midnight Cowboy***Redwoods***The Massuer***Boy Culture***Breakfast With Scot***The Fluffer***Flesh***Little Ashes***L.I.E. ***Dorian Gray***9 Dead Gay Guys***Shank***I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry***Beautiful Boxer***Bangkok Love Story***Schoolboy Crush***Shelter***Back Soon***Dog Tags***Theft***The Mulligans***The Velvet Goldmine***Swashbuckler***Smoke Signals
***C'Thulhu***Milk***The Picture of Dorian Gray***Brideshead Revisited***Notes on a Scandal***RocknRolla***Mamma Mia!
***Priscillia: Queen of the Desert***The History Boys***Brokeback Mountain***The Broken Hearts Club*** Yaji and Kita: Midnight Pilgrims ***Surge of Power ***In & Out ***Mambo Italiano ***Touch of Pink ***To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar ***Wolves of Kromer ***Rocky Horror Picture Show ***Taboo ***Deathtrap 


Gay Themed Series:

Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Dante's Cove
Hex
Carnivale Season One
Carnivale Season Two
Rome Season One
Rome Season Two
True Blood
True Blood: Season Two
The Book of Daniel: The Complete Series
Torchwood: Children of Earth
Torchwood: Season One


Gay Animation:

Pirate's Booty***Sensitive Pornograph***Loveless: The Complete Series***Loveless: Hope on the Run***Loveless: Soul of Chains***Loveless: Lost and Found***Embracing Love: A Cicada in Winter***Embracing Love: Cherished Spring ***Stonewall & Riot***Drawn Together Movie: The Movie***Drawn Together: Season 2***Drawn Together: Season 3

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age