the marvelous british actor derek jacobi stars in writer and director john maybury's love is the devil about the popular modern artist francis bacon . as always , jacobi's acting is impeccable , but the movie tries hard and succeeds at being unentertaining and opaque . the movie convincingly argues that francis , played by jacobi , was a completely despicable and vain individual , but it never provides any insight into his work or any motivation for his attitude . when interviewed by a fawning talk show host , francis calls his style " chance brushstrokes . " starting with a burglary of francis's flat , the film uses loud sound effects that sound like they were lifted from a cheap horror movie . the camera shots are heavy on the avant-garde angles -- lots of wide-angle close-ups and distorted shots filmed through colored-glass reflections . the director is much more interested in filmmaking style than in the substance of the story with the result being a sterile examination of a lonely and vain man . daniel craig , in a lifeless performance , plays the burglar and boxer , george dyer . when francis lays eyes on him after the break-in , francis promises not to call the police if he'll stay for sex . he stays for the entire movie but never respects the man with whom he shares a bed . he thinks that francis's paintings have " no bloody use , " and the movie presents no counterargument . writer maybury barely outlines francis's character , and george and the rest of the supporting cast remain a complete enigma . we learn little of george other than francis's reason for liking him -- george's " amorality and innocence . " francis's love of sadomasochism is shown early and often . " boxing is such a marvelous aperitif for sex , " he reflects to george on the way to watch a boxing match . as the fighter's head is sliced open with a heavy blow , the camera cuts to a gleeful francis whose own head is soaked by the flying blood . francis appears to be in complete ecstasy . another of francis's favorite activities is viewing old movies of atrocities . as the carnage mounts , we witness an orgasmically happy francis in the audience . in a film that tries obsessively to shock , one dream sequence portrays a family in a car accident . francis's mind slowly examines every bloody limb of the mother , the father , and the boy . sometimes the script throws us tidbits of francis's wisdom which illuminate little while merely sounding insightful . ( " i'm optimistic by nature . i'm optimistic about nothing . " " loneliness is my only true companion . " ) we learn more details about francis's makeup techniques than about the man himself . he prefers shoe polish for his hair and sink cleaning powder for his teeth . full of metaphorical interpretations , the film's best scene occurs late one night when george has to get up to go to the bathroom . mistaking francis's picture of a toilet for the genuine article , he urinates on it and then crawls back into bed contentedly . like a parody of a bad art house movie , love is the devil has horrid characters filmed bizarrely and confusingly by a director who is much more interested in technique than storytelling . by the end , the audience hasn't learned any more than it could have in a three-minute sketch . love is the devil runs 1 : 30 . the film is not rated but should be considered nc-17 for violence , profanity , graphic sex , nudity and sadomasochism and is unacceptable for most teenagers . email : <a href= " mailto : steve . rhodes@internetreviews . com " >steve . rhodes@internetreviews . com</a> web : www . internetreviews . com 
