One would die to know what was on Rimbaud's mind
when he wrote "The Drunken Boat,"
or on Mozart's, when he composed his symphony "Jupiter."
We'd love to know that secret process
guiding the creator through his perilous adventures.
Thankfully, what is impossible to know for poetry and music,
is not in the case of painting.
To know what's going through a painter's mind,
one just needs to look at his hand.
Here's what the painter's experiencing.
He's walking, sliding on a tight rope.
He's following a curve on the right,
a spot on the left.
If he misses and loses his balance,
everything's lost.
The painter stumbles like a blind man
in the darkness of the white canvas.
The light that slowly appears
is paradoxically created by the painter,
who draws one black curve after another.
For the first time, the daily and private drama
of the blind genius
will be experienced publicly.
Pablo Picasso agreed to experience it today,
in front of you... with you.
THE MYSTERY oF PICASSo
- So, what do we do now? - Let's do another one.
- Unless you're tired. - I don't mind being tired.
I can go on all night if you want.
Let's do it. Claude.
- Yes? - What do we have left?
- 450 feet. - That's about five minutes.
- That'll do. - Black and white or color?
Color. It's more fun.
- What do you want to do? - It doesn't matter.
The usual?
It'll be a surprise.
All right.
All right, let's do it.
So let's be clear.
If anything happens, you stop.
And I'll do the same, since we have so little film left.
Scene number.
Good.
Are you ready?
- Yes. - Rolling.
It's been one and a half minute.
Just stop at the black.
okay.
- I'm done. - Cut.
- Shall I get the inks ready? - Yes, but quickly.
- How are we doing? - Two minutes left to color.
We're going to start rolling.
Rolling.
And action.
It's been half a minute.
45 seconds left.
That'll do.
- I need a little more time. - Hurry up. I cheated a bit.
- What? - I cheated to allow you more time.
- Eight seconds. - It's all good.
I need more ink.
Cut! Stop now.
Tell me when you're ready.
- I'm ready. - Rolling.
I need to cut. Stop now.
18 feet.
Roll.
I like it as it is now.
So just stop. Let's take a few more frames.
Cut.
- Does it look good? - Come see it.
- What do you think? - What do you think?
I need to make another one, with a different approach.
I want to go deeper.
This is already really good. It's impressive.
But it's a little superficial.
I want to go deeper...
and take more risks.
I want to show all the different layers.
The layers underneath the painting?
We can't shoot it with the same effect.
I could use my oils, like I do at home.
Then start with what we've been doing
and we'll see what we can do. But that's going to be risky.
Risk is exactly what I'm going for.
In that case, knock yourself out!
- Let's do it again. - okay.
Rolling.
I'm done.
It bothers me that our viewers will think you did this in 10 minutes.
- How long has it taken me? - Five hours.
Well, now our viewers know.
Give me a large canvas.
I've proceeded as I would have at home.
I don't have anything to do with the camera or anything.
I'll try using bits of paper.
This is going wrong.
It's going really wrong.
You are worried, aren't you?
You shouldn't be, because this could end in worse ways.
Why the long face?
- You wanted drama, you got it. - But not at the end of the film.
- Why not? - For the audience.
I've never worried about the audience,
and I'm not about to start now, at my age.
And this is what I wanted to show:
the truth revealed from within.
It's getting dark.
It's getting darker and darker.
The moon...
the stars...
a shooting star.
It's really bad. I'll get rid of the collage.
- It's getting better. - At least, it's a painting.
Now that I know where I'm going,
I'll get a new canvas and start over.
This is the end.
The Mystery of Picasso