Paganini (1989)

Kinski' Paganini - Paganini review by NP

This film has a less-than-stellar reputation. Paganini is portrayed by Klaus Kinski in his final film; after failing to persuade his best ‘fiend’ Werner Herzog to direct, Kinsi did the job himself, electing to use only natural lighting. The resulting scenes are often obscured because of this. Kinski energetically mimes to the frenzied violin playing of Paganini, with his right hand. In close-ups of the genuine player that are spliced in, the instrument is being played with the left hand. These things, the meandering story, and the tasteless sex scenes between the titular character and a series of underage girls, have been used to berate the film. They don’t bother me that much, particularly the latter, because that was an undeniable element of the character.

What sets my teeth on edge is the consistent use of screeching, choppy violin ‘music’ throughout the 81-minute runtime. Of course that was the sound Paganini was known for. Of course it represents his genius and torment (traits Kinski seized upon when he made the film, probably because of the similarities between them both). But it’s present all the time, as a backdrop to all the varied emotional moments. What makes Paganini’s final, and very powerful, scenes so effective is the comparative silence in which they are represented.

By this time in his life, as the Blu-ray extras attest at length, Kinski felt he was spent, that he ‘did not exist’, and this exacerbated his extreme behaviour (one commentator tells how every morning, after checking his make-up, the star would smash the mirror, explaining the reflection only has the right to see his image once). I’m not sure whether no one wanted to work with him at this stage, or he wouldn’t listen to advice anyway. Whatever, this film cries out for additional eyes during production, a more restrained voice.

‘Paganini’, or ‘Kinski Paganini’ has many fine moments. Much of the superb location is well captured, the period and settings are well realised, many of the performances are very good (Kinski’s son Nikolai in particular) and there’s no denying that Klaus the actor was a force of nature, and delivers a final bombastic performance. It could just have benefitted from a less grating soundtrack. My score is 6 out of 10.