Die Kunst des toten Mannes

Man sollte mit Kunst keinen Schwarzhandel betreiben und insbesondere nicht mit der, die wir nicht besitzen. Natürlich sollte es kein echter Horrorfilm sein, aber die möchtegernspannenden Passagen mit den Todesfällen funktionieren nicht so richtig. Es sind eher WTF-Momente. Als eine Satire der Welt von Künstler*innen, Kritiker*innen und Händler*innen ist es genießbar, man hat auch an dem Beobachten der interessant lebenden Menschen Spaß. Aber auch in dieser Hinsicht ist Die Kunst des toten Mannes kein Volltreffer, wie z. B. Altmans The Player aus dem Filmemacher-Milieu. Gilroy war bestimmt ehrgeiziger. (22.02.2019)

Dan Gilroy, the director of the thriller Nightcrawler, delivers an original and well-acted horror film starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, John Malkovich, and Toni Collette, but unfortunately it is empty, cold, rather uninteresting and not very engaging. Art, galleries, paintings are not my thing and horror-wise I think of untapped potential. Some of the gore, while creative, is not very brutal and certainly not shocking, it's very soft and light and that's a shame because the film could have been close to Final Destination. I didn't suffer outright, but it's a duller piece with weaker directorial and acting moments. 50% (07.02.2019)

An original and bizarre premise won’t make on its own an exceptional film. In my opinion, it needs a longer leash and a shorter run would also help. The way we have it, Velvet Buzzaw struggles with several different approaches that unfortunately fail to blend. Character-wise it’s too wacky - almost to the point of parody - to be taken seriously, while also being not fun enough to be taken as, well, just fun. In fact, the film never managed to really interest or absorb me; I was unable to get into a stage of viewer satisfaction beyond some sort of bored and passive wait for the next somehow interesting moment, which the film is certainly lacking – at least some inventive bite or a well directed satirical morsel about the world of art galleries. But there are few and, unfortunately, the cotton wool between them failed to hook me. (01.02.2019)

A cynical parody on murder stories, set in the decadent world of modern art. These picky, snobbish caricatures headed by Gyllenhaal die deserved deaths and it’s quite fun to watch. Gilroy isn’t making a horror here and doesn’t employ any cheap things to shock you, it’s just more of an unnerving movie. Perhaps he is making up for a trauma of childhood when he was told that he’ll never be an artist when he got an F in Art. I wouldn’t look for any deeper meaning here. (05.04.2021)

An absolute madness. At some moments, it gave off certain Picture of Dorian Grey vibes, which does the premise some good. As far as mysterious thrillers go, this one is definitely on the super weird side, which also confirms that Jake Gyllenhaal will probably keep playing weirdoes until the day he dies, as he’s been the best at that since childhood. This film is no different, but despite the general wildness, it kept my attention until the very end. The ending itself, however, is a bit anticlimactic. (29.04.2020)