Film Forum’s Young Film Series Revives Love Is the Devil
Francis Bacon biopic hits screens one night starring Derek Jacobi and preBond Daniel Craig
Ratika holds a master's degree in commerce and a post-graduate diploma in communication and journalism from Mumbai University. She has 6 years of experience writing in various fields, such as finance, education, and lifestyle.
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A One-night-only Screening
On Wednesday, May 28, the Young Film Forum (YFF) Archive Dive teams up with @queerart to present a rare revival of John Maybury’s 1998 premiere Love Is the Devil at Film Forum in New York. This one-night-only event brings back a mesmerizing portrait of 20th-century painter Francis Bacon, with Sir Derek Jacobi delivering a searing performance opposite a breakout Daniel Craig.
Reviving A Cult Classic
Maybury’s film debuted at the London Film Festival and went on to earn a cult reputation for its unflinching look at Bacon’s turbulent life. Jacobi (I, Claudius; Hamlet) embodies the painter’s fierce intellect and self-destructive appetites, while Craig, years before his Bond debut, plays George Dyer, a charming petty thief who becomes Bacon’s lover and muse. Together they trace a relationship that fueled some of Bacon’s most controversial and enduring works.
“Do I possess some inner destructive demon, or is it simply that love is the devil?” Bacon asks in the film’s haunting opening lines—a question that drives Maybury’s exploration of obsession, artistry, and the darker side of creative genius.
About The Yff Archive Dive
The YFF Archive Dive is a new series curated from Film Forum’s 54-year history of first-run premieres. Aimed at cinephiles in their 20s and 30s, the series resurfaces underseen masterpieces and challenging works that once made their debuts at the festival. Previous selections have ranged from groundbreaking documentaries to restorations of foreign art-house films.
Tickets for the Love Is the Devil screening are available now to the general public at filmforum.org. Seating is limited; early purchase is recommended.
Behind The Scenes
Maybury was a close collaborator of avant-garde filmmaker Derek Jarman, and he recreates London’s demi-monde of artists, rent boys, and barflies who fed Bacon’s controversial vision. Production design evoked the smoky clubs and tawdry apartments of the 1960s, while cinematographer Eigil Bryld captured the painter’s raw emotional landscape in grainy, expressionistic blacks and whites.
Bacon’s real-life relationship with Dyer was marked by passion and pain, culminating in tragedy that reverberated through his work. Love Is the Devil refracts historical fact through stylized imagery, leaving viewers to grapple with the blurred lines between life and art.
Why It Matters Now
In an era of streaming remixes and blockbuster franchises, Love Is the Devil stands out as a daring character study. Its themes of creative obsession and the sacrifices artists make for their work resonate with today’s audiences, who increasingly seek immersive, off-beat cinema experiences. The YFF Archive Dive spotlights such titles, reminding viewers of the festival’s role in championing provocative, often overlooked films.
How To Attend
Date & Time: Wednesday, May 28, 7:30 PM
Venue: Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, New York City
Tickets: filmforum.org/yff — open to all
For more on the series and upcoming screenings, visit filmforum.org/yff or follow @filmforumnyc on social media.
Tomorrow’s film buffs will be talking about this screening long after the lights go up—so be sure to grab a seat for one night of pure cinematic intensity.
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