Dominic Willsdon, Leanne and George Roberts Curator of Education and Public Programs, SFMOMA
By 1955 Clouzot was established as the director of classic noirish thrillers such as Wages of Fear (1952) and Les Diaboliques (1954). That summer, however, he spent eight hours a day at Pablo Picasso’s studio in Nice filming his friend at work and creating what was described by a critic as “the most beautiful suspense film ever made.” The most intense and captivating sequences were created by filming the reverse side of transparent or semi-transparent surfaces as Picasso painted on them. Willsdon introduces the film (1956, 78 min.), whose title means “the Picasso mystery,” and leads a post-screening discussion.