Synopsis
LOVE IS THE DEVIL opens in 1971 at the Grand Palais in Paris, where controversial British artist Francis Bacon is welcomed as the «greatest living painter» by officials and the press, at his triumphant retrospective. As the ceremony takes place, George Dyer, Bacon's model and lover of seven years, takes a cocktail of pills and alcohol in their hotel room.Slumping into blackness, Dyer recalls the fateful day 1964 when, as minor East End villain, he attempts to burgle Bacon's house. But as he breaks through the studio's skylight, he falls into the studio where he meets Bacon. From then on his life takes on an entirely different course.
A powerful and dangerous relationship develops between the flamboyant artist and the man who becomes his lover and the model for some of his most intense and celebrated paintings.
Bacon's bohemian coterie of artists, rent boys and drunks continually compete for his attention - an assortiment of witty but often grotesque individuals - who enjoy giving their florid commentary to Bacon as the turbulent events of his life unfold. Bacon basks in this glory.
But as his fame and fortune increases and he reaches the height of his artistic powers, Dyer is gradually bled dry by drink and drugs as he struggles to become accepted into Bacon's sophisticated demimonde.
