Chez les amateurs d’art contemporain, son nom sonne comme une promesse : plus de lumière, plus de couleurs (acidulées), plus de style. Depuis les années 1960, les tableaux de David Hockney ont façonné notre vision des paysages californiens, de leur lumière spécifique et de leurs piscines. Ce documentaire raconte la quête existentielle d'un artiste qui, en immortalisant le quotidien le plus banal, tente de trouver le sens de la vie moderne.

Filmed at the time Hockney was painting Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, Portrait of David Hockney is made up of a limited number of shots, observing the periphery details of his flat and studio. Each view is held so as to focus on its particular qualities and composition and, with the accompanying soundtrack of off-screen phone calls, conversations and musings, builds up a picture of Hockney’s daily life.

Richard Rhys, a painter in Victorian London, is the prime suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders. In a chance encounter he meets a wealthy reformer and socialite, Victoria Thornton, married to the richest man in England. Their passionate love affair results in a pregnancy and possible scandal and ruin. It is a story of redemption and true love.