For many of us, Cubism conjures up feelings of confusion; it is difficult to read visually; the subject is not always clear and neither is the message, and then there are all those cartoonish representations of guitars and violins. But if we can stop and try to understand what Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, the founders of Cubism, were trying to achieve, some of this confusion melts away. First of all, Cubism was about developing a new way of seeing and representing the modern age that better reflected the heightened pace, the new developments in communication and travel, and the technological innovations of photography and cinematography at the turn of the 20th century. To do this modern artists challenged conventional forms of representation, especially perspective; thus, ending up with the deconstructed, geometric canvases of Picasso and Braque.

“Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies.”

A 2008 film, “Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies,” explores just how deep the influence of the cinema was on Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Director Arne Glimcher and producer Martin Scorsese argue in this documentary that film played a crucial formative influence on the development of Cubism, and that Picasso and Braque were translating film’s revolutionary portrayal of time, space and motion onto their canvases. Including rare footage of the Exposition Universelle in Paris, interviews with art scholars and artists (Chuck Close, Julian Schnabel and Eric Fischl) and slapstick clips from early cinema, “Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies” explores the marriage of film and visual art at the turn of the 20th century.

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art will screen “Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies” on Friday, March 21 at 7 p.m. with an event reception starting at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 for non-members, $8 for members, and $5 for students with a valid school I.D. Sam Shapiro, Librarian and film expert at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, will also offer a short presentation about the film.

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art: 420 South Tryon St., Charlotte; www.bechtler.org. Hours: Mon., 10-5 p.m.; Tues., closed; Wed.-Sat., 10-5 p.m.; Sun., 12-5 p.m. This article was edited on April 2, 2014 to correct information that incorrectly stated Sam Shapiro’s title.