Michelangelo - genius and passion
Michelangelo - Genius and Passion (alternative title: Michelangelo: Aufbruch einer Genius ) is the title of a US-Italian period film produced in 1991 . The focus is on the early years in the life of the well-known Florentine painter and artist Michelangelo , to be precise the 16 years between 1492 and 1508.
The screenplay is based on the novel La Primavera di Michelangelo by Vincenzo Labella , who also wrote the screenplay with Julian Bond .
action
1492: The young Michelangelo Buonarroti lives in Florence at the court of Lorenzo il Magnifico , an art patron who has adopted the young man. Michelangelo is a dedicated artist who, together with his friend, the painter Francesco Granacci, dreams of big projects in the future. After Lorenzo's death, anarchy breaks out in Florence. Provoked by the preacher Girolamo Savonarola, who railed against immorality, against the wealth of the de 'Medicis and the decline of morals within the church, his henchmen roam the streets to find sinners. The revealing sculptures and marble busts of Michelangelo are also counted as sins. But Michelangelo also experiences rejection and envy within the family of his patron. Above all, his biological son Piero di Lorenzo de 'Medici fears Michelangelo as a rival for his father's legacy. Michelangelo has to leave Florence. From now on he leads an unsteady life. His father, Lodovico Buonarroti, who wanted to turn his son into a wealthy merchant, cast him away because Michelangelo was now striving to become a sculptor.
Michelangelo first got in touch with the Vatican through businessman Giacopo Galli . Cardinal Raffaele Riario commissioned the young artist to create a work of art for Pope Alexander VI. to accomplish. After painstaking detailed work, Michelangelo modeled the Roman Pietà . But he would like more and above all not to be hired by the Vatican for his purposes. He goes back to Florence where he faces tough competition. Leonardo da Vinci is working on a painting he calls the Mona Lisa . Leonardo also made a name for himself as a fresco painter. However, Michelangelo has other things in mind than painting. He is a sculptor. And so he uses a huge marble rock from a nearby quarry to make his most famous work, David , for which even his competitor Leonardo admires him.
In 1503 Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere was elected Pope Julius II. He then plans to bring all the great artists to Rome, including Michelangelo. The young Buonarroti gets the order from the Pope to build his tomb. But in Rome Michelangelo fell victim to intrigues against him. Donato Bramante, the papal architect, would rather see his nephew, the young Raphael, instead of Michelangelo. Michelangelo's assistant is almost the victim of an assassination attempt, and Bramante does not pay Michelangelo's workers or the young builder any wages. Michelangelo leaves Rome disappointed. After Pope Julius II had consolidated his power in Rome through a campaign, he allowed Michelangelo to come to Rome again. Now Michelangelo gets what is probably the biggest order of his career. He is supposed to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel . At first only reluctantly, since he prefers to be a sculptor rather than a painter, Michelangelo fulfills the Pope's commission.
Background information
Michelangelo - Genius and Passion is part of the last major film project by Vincenzo Labella , who, as the producer of Jesus of Nazareth and Marco Polo, realized other film projects by well-known historical personalities. The film was shot in Italy on a budget of $ 8 million .
In the mid-1990s, a sequel was planned for a short time, in which the late years of Michelangelo should be thematized; however, this was never realized due to the early accidental death of leading actor Mark Frankel.
Others
Steven Berkoff , the actor who played Girolamo Savonarola, embodied the Florentine preacher again around 20 years later, in 2010/2011 in the TV series The Borgias .
Important voice actors
- Michelangelo: Torsten Bauer
- Onoria: Monica Bielenstein
- Pope Julius II: Joachim Kerzel
- Girolamo Savonarola: Rolf Schult
- Contessina de 'Medici: Dorette Hugo
- Francesco Granacci: Torsten Sense
- Leonardo da Vinci: Peter Matic
- Ludovico Buonarotti: Joachim Nottke
- Aldrovandi: Friedrich W. Bauschulte
- Lorenzo il Magnifico: Hermann Ebeling
- Piero Soderini: Jürgen Thormann
- Piero di Lorenzo de 'Medici: Bernd Rumpf
- Raffael: Udo Schenk
- Lorenzo Popolano: Reinhard Kuhnert
- Niccolo Machiavelli: Detlef Bierstedt
- Donato Bramante: Jochen Schröder
- Angelo Poliziano: Norbert Schwarz
- Baldassare: Wolfgang Völz
- Brother Leo: Tim Moeseritz
- Romolino: Christoph Beyertt
- Tullio Lombardo: Karl Schulz
Web links
- Michelangelo - genius and passion in the Internet Movie Database (English)