MovieChat Forums > Modigliani (2004) Discussion > The little boy

The little boy

posted 18 years ago by jamie-l-lund-2
4 replies | jump to latest

Was the little boy that lived with Modigliani dead in the film? In the beginning I didn't think so... but when Modigliani was on his death bed in the hospital with everyone gather around him, I noticed that when the camera was "his eyes" you could see the little boy and when the camera was "everyone else's eyes" you couldn't. Same with when Modigliani was painting Jeanne for the last time in the blue dress while she was pregnant, you could see the little boy through his eyes but not through hers.

And what was with the little tune he was always humming?

Very questionable..

Oh! And at Jeanne's funeral after everyone leaves... Picasso grabs the little boys hand and they walk away together. How can Picasso see him?

[–] sfmar 18 years ago

The movie does get a bit confusing and ambiguous in areas (and I saw it several months ago). The boy isn't dead, I think the concept is that the boy is Modigliani's younger self. In the flashback sequences he is the young Modigliani, so in the present he's like a memory that haunts Modigliani (a remnant of his youth), so naturally only Modigliani "sees" him.

As for the boy being seen by Picasso at the end, that is admittedly inconsistent but I believe it was just a touch of surrealism from the writers, almost as if the boy now represented Modigliani's "muse" - and it was now being passed onto Picasso.

Sorry, I can't help you with the tune - I saw the movie too long ago.

[–] jamie-l-lund-2 18 years ago

that makes a lot of sense! thanks for helping me understand.

[–] discosilvia 18 years ago

The tune is the Italian national anthem.

[–] zarvan_anahita 17 years ago

That little boy is modigliani memory. and as you know everybody has a child indide that sometimes thinks and acts better than adults. and that was for modigliani. that tune which is in italy shows that the child is modigliani because in a scene you see the child is singing that and after that modigliani is singing that.
that is my question too that why picasso took the boy's hand. I thind although he was modigliani's competitor but he loved modigliani and here the child is the sign of modigliani or the spirit of him that picasso is feeling.
if it doen't take your time please answer my questions in board too.
sorry if my english is toooooo bad.