We encourage visitors to our special exhibition Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking to attend a special screening of the film Edvard Munch, by Peter Watkins, at the Harvard Film Archive. This shimmering television bio-pic of Edvard Munch will be introduced by experimental filmmaker Ben Rivers and screened on 35mm film.

“There is a shot in Edvard Munch (one which I believe Sokurov may have watched before making his also extraordinary Faust) that made me gasp when I first saw the film: a young woman’s face, not saying anything but looking in silence and evoking a power like that of the greatest painted portraits—a moment of pause in otherwise nonstop storytelling. Peter Watkins finds this shot in his signature handheld style, as if he and his crew were following Munch, his family and friends, throughout their lives, while a stern voice explains further details of the story of the artist’s life. At any given moment within the film’s necessary three and a half hours, we are somehow right there with Munch, struggling through his creating one of the great bodies of work. As a filmmaker I have received a vast amount of courage from the radical cinema of Peter Watkins, with Munch standing as one of his most unique and strange, much like the paintings of his subject, illuminating the dark corners of humanity.” —Ben Rivers

About the film:
Edvard Munch, 1974 (Peter Watkins; French, English, Norwegian, German, Swedish, and Danish with English subtitles; 210 min.)

General admission for this film at the Harvard Film Archive is $10. Admission for non-Harvard students, Harvard ID holders, and senior citizens is $8. The screening is free for all Harvard students with a valid photo ID, as well as AFVS and CCVA faculty and staff. Discounts apply for Harvard Film Archive Members. Seating is limited. Please visit the Harvard Film Archive website to purchase tickets. For any questions, please contact [email protected] at the Harvard Film Archive.

Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking is on view at the Harvard Art Museums from March 7 through July 27, 2025.