A film written, directed and narrated by Peter Watkins

Death; sex; and the total isolation of the individual: in Edvard Munch's work up to his mental breakdown in 1908 all three are merged.

It is this merging of the themes of love, death, jealousy and despair in the Norwegian artist's early life and artistic development that Peter Watkins explores in his film. He captures the claustrophobia of the age in an impressionistic style which mirrors exactly the work and anxieties, the pains and passions of this highly controversial painter, as he strove to express a greater understanding of the human psyche.

Co-production between the Swedish and Norwegian Broadcasting Corporations
(A cinema version of the television film first shown last year)
(Expressionism: the new art movement next Tues BBC2, 10.45.)