Dalíland

Dalíland is a 2022 American biographical film directed by Mary Harron. It is based on the true story of surrealist painter Salvador Dalí and his tempestuous marriage to muse and wife Gala during the 1970s. The film stars Ben Kingsley, Barbara Sukowa, Christopher Briney, Rupert Graves, Alexander Beyer, Andreja Pejić, Suki Waterhouse, and Ezra Miller.

Dalíland
Film poster
Directed by	Mary Harron
Written by	John C. Walsh
Produced by	Edward R. Pressman David O. Sacks Chris Curling Daniel Brunt Sam Pressman
Starring	Ben Kingsley Barbara Sukowa Christopher Briney Rupert Graves Alexander Beyer Andreja Pejić Suki Waterhouse Ezra Miller
Cinematography	Marcel Zyskind
Edited by	Alex Mackie
Music by	Edmund Butt
Production companies	Pressman Film David O. Sacks Productions Zephyr Films Popcorn Films Serein Productions
Distributed by	Magnolia Pictures
Release dates	September 17, 2022 (2022-09-17) (TIFF) June 9, 2023 (2023-06-09) (United States)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$476,275[1]

Dalíland had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 17, 2022 and was released in the United States on June 9, 2023 by Magnolia Pictures.

Plot

Set in the 1970s in New York and Spain, Dalíland is told through the eyes of James (Briney), a young assistant at a New York gallery who's obliged to assist Salvador Dalí (Kingsley) for a gallery show and ends up immersed into the unconventional world of Dalí's bohemian lifestyle and his strange marriage to his wife Gala (Sukowa). After the exhibition, and with signs of increasing strain on the bond between Gala and Salvador, James follows the Dalís to Spain, where the painter later dies.^[2]

Cast

• Ben Kingsley as Salvador Dalí
  • Ezra Miller as Young Dalí
• Barbara Sukowa as Gala
  • Avital Lvova as Young Gala
• Christopher Briney as James Linton
• Rupert Graves as Captain Moore
• Alexander Beyer as Christoffe
• Andreja Pejić as Amanda Lear
• Suki Waterhouse as Ginesta/Lucy
• Mark McKenna as Alice Cooper
• Zachary Nachbar-Seckel as Jeff Fenholt
• Joella Hinson-King as Donyale Luna
• Paul Hilton as Milan Art Dealer
• Irina Leoncio as Nurse
• Alberto Maneiro as Functionary
• Matthew James Ovens as Renaldo
• Merce Ribot as Rosa
• Gavin Spokes as Gilbert Hamond
• Jack Shalloo as Desmond Carter

Production

In May 2018, Ben Kingsley, Lesley Manville, Tim Roth, Frank Dillane and Ezra Miller joined the cast of the film, with Mary Harron directing from a screenplay by herself and John C. Walsh.^[3][4] Miller was initially cast as James by Harron, but was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, leading Harron to cast newcomer Christopher Briney. Miller was instead offered the role of a young Salvador Dalí (who's played by Ben Kingsley for most of the film in his later years), appearing only sparingly in some flashback sequences.^[5] In May 2021, Barbara Sukowa, Alexander Beyer, Avital Lvova, Christopher Briney, and Rupert Graves were added, while Andreja Pejić, Suki Waterhouse and Mark McKenna had replaced Manville, Roth and Dillane, and principal photography has been concluded.^[6]

The movie was largely filmed in Liverpool, which was used to double New York City.^[7]

Release

Dalíland had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 17, 2022.^[8] In November 2022, Magnolia Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film.^[9] It received a theatrical and on-demand release on June 9, 2023.^[10]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 44% of 70 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Ben Kingsley adds some rich color to Dalíland's palette, but given the dynamic subject matter, this is a frustratingly bland biopic portrait."^[11] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[12]