Daliland – REVIEW

You would think a movie about Salvador Dali would exhibit some of his sense of absurdism, surrealism, mischief and playfulness. Alas, it does not. Daliland is a rather drab, conventional bio-pic filled with clichés and two-dimensional characters. 

Ben Kingsley shows little enthusiasm in the lead role, his face almost frozen in one barely mutable expression throughout the film. Christopher Briney, who plays the naive, angel-faced art student-cum-Dali lap dog, James Linton, is likeable and attractive but has no real narrative arc. Gala, played with relish by lauded German actor Barbara Sukowa, is potentially the most interesting character but is relegated to nagging, sex-hungry, harpy.  

The film begins in a room where a small TV is playing a 1952 episode of What’s My Line on which Dali was the mystery guest. James enters the room in time to catch the end of the clip which is actually part of a news report. It is actually 1984 and Dali has been seriously injured in a house fire. This sparks a flashback for James, recalling his time with Dali back in 1973 when the painter was preparing for an exhibition in New York.

We first meet Dali in a New York hotel room where he is holding one of his famous, decadent, A-list attended parties. From here the story-telling is linear save for some more flashbacks, this time from Dali remembering his first encounters with Gala. 

The characters and story are all shallow without any true insight, critique, or revelations. It’s hard to feel empathy or interest in either. 

There may be a level of curiosity-value but it would have to be tempered with the knowledge that the film has probably not stuck rigidly to fact. 

★★

In cinemas July 13