Weekly Kibbitz
Johnny Depp Directing a Film About Jewish Italian Painter Modigliani
iding a wave of tabloid notoriety after winning his
highly publicized defamation lawsuit against ex-
wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp is planning to direct
a biopic about a diff erent troubled fi gure: the Jewish
Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani.

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star is partnering
with Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino to produce
the fi lm, which will be adapted from the 1979 play
“Modigliani” by Dennis McIntyre. It will chronicle
the life of the artist whose portraits and sculptures
of Parisian women (often in the nude, with elon-
gated faces and limbs) posthumously made him
the toast of the art world in the early 20th century.

“The saga of Mr Modigliani’s life is one that I’m
incredibly honored, and truly humbled, to bring
to the screen,” Depp said in a statement. “It was
a life of great hardship, but eventual triumph —
a universally human story all viewers can
identify with.”
The production was fi rst reported by the
Hollywood Reporter. No casting announcements
were made yet, but given that the artist died at
35 from tuberculosis, it’s hard to imagine either
Depp, 59, or Pacino, 82, would play him.

Born to a Sephardic Jewish family in Livorno
in 1884, “Modi” lived a short life marked by con-
Johnny Depp circa 2019; Amedeo Modigliani circa 1918
stant illness, drug and alcohol abuse and a large
number of lovers (including the painter Jeanne
Hébuterne, who, eight months pregnant with his
child, committed suicide the day after he died).

Though he completed hundreds of paintings and
sculptures, Modigliani wouldn’t fi nd recognition
until years after his death in 1920.

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Modigliani very occasionally explored Jewish
themes in his art, including in a famous 1908
painting, “The Jewess,” but he was always con-
scious of his Jewish identity, according to his
biographers. That identity was explored in a 2017
exhibit at New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage.

— Andrew Lapin
C all Vet
@ 1p.m.

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