Behind the relaxed public façade is a deeply private man. David makes me a cup of tea, and points out how much his creativity depends on routine and the smooth functioning of his household. When I mention that I’d like to talk to his companion and house-keeper John Fitzherbert, his answer is couched behind a joke: he doesn’t want my filming to stray too much into fly-on-the-wall reality television. (John had given me a revealing interview for my earlier Hockney documentary Double Portrait.)
Over the three years in Yorkshire I adhered to a balance between recording the work process and capturing the person within his environment, while respecting his privacy. I certainly did not want to make an ‘In Bed with Madonna’ sort-of movie, or become part of the film. It was only half-way through the tortuous editing process, reducing 120 hours of material to a single hour, that my brilliant editor Chris Swayne and I realised there was no escape. David’s insistence that the film crew could number no more than me meant that much of what I’d captured was in the form of a conversation, close-up and personal. The final film would have to be in the form of a dialogue between us, and I would need to write a first-person narrative.
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This video is an outtake from David Hockney: A Bigger Picture, an award-winning documentary by filmmaker Bruno Wollheim.
Watch the full film here: vimeo.com/onde...
Filmed over three years with unprecedented access, A Bigger Picture captures Britain’s most beloved painter at work. David Hockney’s return from California to paint the East Yorkshire landscape of his childhood - outside, in all weathers, through the seasons - culminates in the largest picture ever made outdoors. It’s an inspiring story of a painter in creative dialogue with nature and photography, and a revealing portrait of Britain’s most popular and celebrated artist.
“This wonderful film … will be of lasting importance for future generations who want to understand Hockney’s art.” Saturday Review, BBC Radio 4
“Bruno Wollheim’s portrait of this forthright magus is an unqualified, life-enhancing joy from start to finish.” - The Sunday Times
“This film may well be the best anyone will ever make about Hockney’s process.” - The Times, London.
“As gently hypnotic and fulfilling as one of Hockney’s own works.” - Time Out
“This impressive documentary is almost cinematic in its scope… both majestic and intimate” - The Observer
Watch the full documentary here: vimeo.com/2248...
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