Daliland, 2023.
Directed by Mary Harron.
Starring Ben Kingsley, Barbara Sukowa, Christopher Briney, Rupert Graves, Andreja Pejić, Suki Waterhouse, Ezra Miller, Zachary Nachbar-Seckel, Alexander Beyer, Avital Lvova, Joella Hinson-King, Merce Ribot, Jack Shalloo, Gavin Spokes, Matthew James Ovens, and Mark McKenna.
SYNOPSIS:
In 1973, a young gallery assistant goes on a wild adventure behind the scenes as he helps the aging genius Salvador Dali prepare for a big show in New York.
For a movie exploring Salvador Dali’s 1970s old-age lifestyle of excess, frequently throwing drug-fueled hedonistic parties (he did not participate in the sexual activities, but does masturbate in the corner while watching a three-way at one point) in a hotel room that cost $20,000 a month to stay in, populated with rising musicians such as Alice Cooper and no-name guests, Mary Harron’s Daliland is a bore lacking energy and excitement. The costumes and sets are impressive, with Ben Kingsley striking a balance between capturing the surrealist’s eccentric personality and overacting, and there is some intriguing marital dysfunction between him and his older wife Gala (Barbara Sukowa), but the script from John Walsh never quite knows what to do with those elements to maximize that engagement.
There also seems to be an identity crisis, with the filmmakers unsure where the focus should be. The cipher into this world is art gallery assistant James (Christopher Briney, supposedly playing a composite character of those involved with Salvador Dali), tasked with entering that sphere, pushing back against the sexual advances from the lustful Gala, and keeping tabs on Salvador Dali to ensure that some art is getting created alongside the endless debauchery. Then there are a small set of flashbacks that see Ezra Miller struggling their way through portraying a younger Salvador Dali, where the only impression that’s made is how superfluous they are to the story being told, especially considering the older Salvador Dali is often still in the same scenes, commenting on the past.
The structure of Daliland is so jarring I began to wonder if it possibly suffered from a decision to cut out scenes with Ezra Miller (due to their recent history of troubling behavior) that might have better illuminated whatever juxtaposition or point the filmmakers were attempting to make, and while I did receive an updated notice that the film is 97 minutes long (apparently it was a little over 100 when it premiered last year at TIFF), the changes don’t seem to be anywhere near dramatic enough to throw the narrative’s flow off-track. It’s confounding from inception.
Meanwhile, James falls into the lifestyle and somewhat becomes an accolade to Salvador Dali, interacting with several characters and winding up in an affair about as narratively disposable as everything else here. Considering that Christopher Briney is generally surrounded by Ben Kingsley putting on a show, that contrast only enhances how dry a performance the former gives. Phrasing it as “coming alive” would be an understatement, but the only time Daliland generates some investment is whenever the complicated and rocky relationship between the artist and his wife (who played a large role in getting his paintings sold and his rise to fame but didn’t get much credit for it) comes to the surface.
It is befuddling how a film could have so many fascinating bits of history, real-life personas, and larger-than-life hotel room parties but present every one of those aspects blandly. Part of Daliland deals with the artist fading into obscurity with big-time critics no longer taking his galleries seriously enough for a review, which is almost a perfect parallel; outside a passable performance from Ben Kingsley, there’s nothing here worth taking seriously.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
