Love Is The Devil (DVD)

LOVE IS THE DEVILStudy for a Portrait of Francis BaconA film by John Maybury Exploring the territory where art, love and sex collide, Love is the Devil, charts the powerful and dangerous relationship between one of Britain's most controversial artists, Francis Bacon (Derek Jacobi) and his lover and muse George Dyer (Daniel Craig). This is a dazzling, audacious feature from one of Britain's most exciting directors (The Edge of Love, The Jacket). In the bawdy decadent world bohemian 1960s Soho, artists, rent boys and drunks populate the casinos and bars including the infamous Colony Room Club, presided over by foul-mouthed patroness Muriel Belcher (Tilda Swinton). Derek Jacobi's portrayal of Bacon is precise and mesmerising, whilst Daniel Craig gives a raw, expressive performance as the tough petty thief who became the model for some of Bacon's most intense and celebrated paintings. The film's fantastic visual style captures the extraordinary energy of Bacon's art; the lighting and colour palette are inspired by his work, and the film's atmosphere is one of both beauty and the grotesque.