Modern art

FINAL PORTRAIT I Stanley Tucci paints Giacometti with some broad strokes…

In 1964, the young US writer James Lord spent 18 mildly torturous days sitting for the famous Swiss sculptor/painter Albert Giacometti. The result, aside, presumably, from backache, was Lord’s book

A Giacometti Portrait. “I carried this book around with me for 25 or more years,” says actor-director Stanley Tucci, who has finally realised his dream of bringing this story to the big screen with Final Portrait.

Recently receiving a major exhibition at London’s Tate Modern, Giacometti is “the consummate artist” says Tucci, “and this was the perfect book about the creative process. To have those two things available to you was very inspiring.” Writing the script – as he did on previous directorial outings Big Night, The Imposters and Blind Date – the other two things he had available were Geoffrey Rush and Armie Hammer, playing Giacometti and Lord.

“Geoffrey came on two years before the movie got made. He was kind enough to commit for that period of time,” says Tucci. Hunched over, chain-smoking, wild hair – the Australian star’s transformation is remarkable. “Geoffrey’s a brilliant actor but he also has a great sense of humour. Giacometti was very funny and I think that’s a really important aspect to the character and the film.”

With production designer James Merifield recreating Giacometti’s studio, the team were also able to use German doc Ein Portrait for colour footage of the artist at work. “You see the very beginning – the blank canvas, you see the brush go on. So everything was there. We knew exactly how he started each portrait. That’s the key.”

While Tucci finds the “tedium” of Lord sitting for Giacometti part of the fun, the real amusement comes in watching this portrait of a very eccentric artist. Like the fact Giacometti kept all of his money hidden around his studio. “The guy was a millionaire!” says Tucci. “Look at the way he dressed, look at the way he lived – he didn’t care. He gave it to his friends, gave it to his brother, gave it to prostitutes. And it’s all true.”

ETA | 4 AUGUST / FINAL PORTRAIT OPENS THIS SUMMER.