Hieronymus Bosch, Touched by the Devil

In this documentary there are many questions and no answers. I think about ten times the art-specialists ask to their colleagues: "What is a true Bosch-painting ?" There will be no answer to that question. "Which painting is of the master and which painting is of a follower ?" The answer is that only one painting is "very sure"from a follower. In the movie someone does a study of the wood the paintings are on. Many questions about the wood and never a clear answer. On the other hand you see how difficult it is to make a great exposition. You have a inside look in the museum-world. Summary: Many questions, a little bit about restoration of paintings. The making of a big exposition and getting paintings on time and in a good shape (restaurated)to the Netherlands. And the rest of your live you will look with other eyes to the so-called art-specialists.

Pieter van Huijstee has written, directed and produced a modern masterpiece, a contemporary Boschian Hay Wain, where man queues, grasps and kills to clutch and hold the gold-like hay not knowing that it will wither as soon as he is in possession of it. God sees, all; we do not. In Pieter's film, people in the Art World do NOT come out well. Hieronymus Bosch very much DOES. Hugely so.

A fly on the wall approach collapses 6 years travel across the world into an hour and a half if one supplements it with the DVD additional scene of the visit to the Louvre. I found it absorbing and illuminating. The highlights are very much the scenes filmed in front of the (many specially unframed) Bosch panel paintings with the camera carefully panning over the details being discussed.

Many, who like me have travelled the world to see Bosch's work, will love the travelogue quality of the filmed exteriors of the museums and galleries. One is there again at the foot of the steps, if only for a few minutes, and now one is being allowed to go behind the closed doors, rooms and store rooms. Wonderful.

My twin brother and I visited the Noordbrabants Museum to see the Bosch exhibition this February (2016) as we did the Bosch Congress and Rotterdam exhibition in November 2001. At the Congress, as in Pieter's film, petty animosities and rivalries were sadly manifest, the archivists and the restorers being the good guys, the academics the bad guys. In the intervening 15 years the bad guys would seem to be the Museum Directors. It would appear to be a never ending conflict. Religion in Bosch's time. Professions and disciplines today.

A primary theme of the research exercise was to establish what constitutes an Hieronymus Bosch artwork and there is a gem of a scene where there are a worrying few moments as the Director of the hosting Museum says that he wants his visitors to know that they are seeing only a genuine Bosch, NOT with assistants, studio or follower. It is a VERY good scene, whether the subject of editing or staging. It lasts only a few minutes. Keep your eyes and ears open. Priceless. Bosch's sermons in paint are alive and well in 21st Century 's-Hertogenbosch !

A secondary and undeclared issue occurs when the principal organiser, Matthijs Ilsink, is asked by a Berlin Museum Curator as they examine a box of Bosch's drawings whether he thinks Bosch 'a Humanist' - a scholar, a speaker of Latin, a learned Humanist I will not spoil the viewer's experience by giving his answer, nor how the conversation continues, but highly recommend you see the film to find out. It is very much well worth it.

A must see.

I don't really agree with the other reviewer Henk Sonnemans. I think the point he mentions as flaws, were in the documentary on purpose. Because the question will remain whether something is a real Bosch or not... Made by the hands of others in his workplace or a combination. I do think though that it would have been more interesting to really see some more details about what the restorers do and how they do it. for example the point where you see the woman filling in gaps with paint, which looks quite scary considering the worth of such a painting. There is mainly some shots and one elaboration about the wood (which was great). The filming and editing are great in my opinion! Nice combination of music, sounds and shots and great use of natural light.

This movie is defenetly not what I expected it to be with only just seen the trailer and not read anything about it. I needed it to be a bit more analytical regarding the masterpieces. Hoewever, it is a one to watch. It is stunning that I saw new masterpieces ( something I did not expect) as well as widely known ones.

"Hieronymus Bosch, Touched by the Devil" attempts to showcase the world of art curation, preservation, and history through the work of a team of Dutch Bosch experts.

The documentary feels disjointed due to editing and narrative choices. It'll jump from shot to shot and scene to scene without a sense of direction and focus. Several narrative topics are touched upon, but none in any fulfilling way. As well, there is no strong protagonist or person we can identify with as an audience. The people who are put forth are tightlipped and unsympathetic. The conclusion of the film warrants a reaction of, "That's it? So, what was the focal point?"

What this documentary reveals is that even for as interesting a figure as Bosch, with the wrong director and direction, a film about this master painter can become fairly mundane.