Raoul Ruiz's film Klimt, about the fin de siecle Austrian painter, is to be released in the UK in the summer by Soda Pictures.

Two versions of the film are in circulation - a 129 minute director's cut and a shorter producer's version. After consulting with exhibitors, Soda has decided that Ruiz's vision for Klimt will be seen by British cinemagoers. Both versions will subsequently be available on the DVD release.

Klimt stars John Malkovich as the Vienna-based painter celebrated for his unorthodox and erotic paintings. The film is being represented internationally by London-based Independent Film Sales.

There has been renewed interest in Klimt since last summer when US cosmetics magnate Ronald Lauder paid $135 million for the artist's portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer - at the time the highest price ever paid for a painting.

Ruiz's earlier period picture, Remembrance Of Things Past (2000), an adaptation of Marcel Proust's novel which also starred Malkovich, was a box-office hit in the UK for rival distributor Artificial Eye.

The confirmation of the UK acquisition of Klimt comes exactly a year after the film's world premiere at the 2006 Rotterdam Film Festival.

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