Cert 12A
108 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate sex references
In 2009, an armchair designed by Eileen Gray sold for 22 million Euros.
That's right, an armchair. I usually pay a couple of hundred quid for mine from DFS or Ikea but this one really was snapped up by a collector who said that she had been willing to pay "the price of desire."
Mary McGuckian's film is titled on the latter quote and attempts to bring Gray back to what the director sees as her rightful position at the pinnacle of European artists.
Here she is played with passion by Orla Brady while her nemesis, the jealous and egotistical Le Corbusier, is portrayed by Vincent Perez.
Much of the antagonism between the two surrounds a villa which was designed and furnished by Gray who is appalled by what she sees as its vandalism by Le Corbusier's murals.
Meanwhile, the adulterous Jean Badovici (Francesco Scianna) is the common factor between the rivals and ultimately seen as a betrayer of Gray's art.
The Price Of Desire will appeal to those who are more open-minded than me (let's be honest, I can't even see that a chair can be art).
They will delight in the verbal jousting and will have opinions on which side of the artistic debate has more validity.
While I was pleased that the film unveiled a new strand of art to me, I found its characters self-obsessed and irritating.
Although, because it was almost entirely filmed on the Cote D'Azur, I could not deny it is very attractive.
Reasons to watch: uncovers an artist of whom I knew nothing
Reasons to avoids: its need to be arty suffocates it a bit
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: very briefly
Overall rating: 6/10
Star tweet
Orla Brady 
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