Loading movie...
Can Art Stop a Bullet: William Kelly's Big Picture (2020)
Director: Mark Street
Cast: Martin Sheen, William Kelly, Nick Ut, Rama Mani
Runtime93 min
Your reaction:
Watchlist:
The film documents the creation of Kelly’s monumental artwork “Peace or War/The Big Picture”. It is a tapestry of history and art, drawn from major artworks and photos from the defining conflicts of their times. This immense visual collage allows the audience to navigate through time and place, meeting survivors of these horrific moments in history and the artists who have created work commenting on these periods, some of which have become iconic. Through Kelly’s drawings, the audience is transported to the concentration camps of the Third Reich, the bombing of Hiroshima, “the troubles” in Ireland, the race riots in the US and Pol Pot’s Year Zero. Interwoven with archival footage of these cataclysmic events, the audience is invited to visit anti-war and anti-gun demonstrations today, events that call for similar injustices to be stopped. The film is a parallel work to Kelly’s masterpiece, unfolding to create the ‘Big Picture’ in documentary form.
Why you might like this:
With its unique blend of historical documentary and artistic exploration, Can Art Stop a Bullet: William Kelly's Big Picture (2020) directed by Mark Street offers a visually captivating and thought-provoking examination of how art can confront and contextualize some of the most defining conflicts of modern history. Fans of documentary filmmaking and socially conscious art will find this an immersive and impactful viewing experience.