In honour of Marc Chagall's birthday, I want to recall the appearance of his painting "The Bride" in one of the most sentimental and, incidentally, highest-grossing of English films: Roger Michell's "Notting Hill" of 1999

In honour of Marc Chagall's birthday, I want to recall the appearance of his painting "The Bride" in one of the most sentimental and, incidentally, highest-grossing of English films: Roger Michell's "Notting Hill" of 1999. The Chagall reproduction in William Thacker's house helps to set his conversation going with the adored Hollywood film star Anna Scott, who remarks that "happiness isn't happiness without a violin-playing goat". It is a charming matrimonial hint at the plot of the film, the idea of the screenwriter and producer Richard Curtis, who adores Chagall and arranged with the artist's foundation for the use of a reproduction of "The Bride" in the film. The painting appears on screen twice, at the beginning and at the end, when in a gift bag from Anna we see an original Chagall as a gesture of reconciliation. Naturally, Chagall's canvas is not without its sadness either, for the picture was painted after the death of his beloved Bella