What the world seems to want is a well-balanced, upstanding member of society that contributes in an inoffensive way to the majority as he or she creates mind-bending art of remarkable caliber. A prince of creativity, along with a saint who has no questionable personal tastes or occasional trips to the darker side of the intellect.
It's a horrible shame that Vincent Van Gogh's achievements were only appreciated AFTER his demise. That during his lifetime he was regarded as a kind of leper, an outcast... somebody misunderstood and terribly feared, for some reason.
So, in a jaw-dropping, unbelievable achievement of filmmaking the likes of which I never would have comprehended, much less imagined, we have LOVING VINCENT. Eight hundred and fifty three oil paintings create the animation we see here, and though I thought I had an idea of what I was getting into before I saw this...
I was WRONG. Oh my lord I was wrong.
With tears in my eyes and my jaw dropped to the floor for the first hour at least, the visual feast before my eyes is like nothing I have ever seen before in my life. The actors come to life, their caricatures made of a skin that was of Vincent's hand... as though we were watching a tale unfold through his eyes.
Is this the most action-packed, thrilling piece of cinema you will ever see?
Not by a long shot. In fact, there isn't much in the area of action anywhere to be found. I suppose to some, that may be a detriment. Surely, if you feel nothing when you look at a painting, you will most likely be bored to tears watching this film. If the painting has no meaning to you beyond a swath of paint swirls, and you cannot see the majesty, the difficulty, the scope of attempting to capture a moment in time that can both speak enough to the viewer to tell a story and at the same time show a glimpse of the world as the artist sees it, this film is not for you.
So not everyone will see what I saw when Loving Vincent. Indeed, if you are unfamiliar with him or his works, this might fall flat on your radar. The plot is not truly its strongest part.
The spectacle is. The ability to interweave Vincent's life through a world made of paintings that he himself painted, showing landscapes and buildings and people interacting in HIS VERSION of the world is simply indescribably beautiful to behold.
Nobody pulls any punches here in terms of acting. You could simply call these voice-overs, but as you will be able to tell by the credits at the end, the actors went to a lot of trouble to BECOME the characters behind the oil, most likely in an effort to help out the more than one hundred painters who made LOVING VINCENT possible. Three that stand out, in my mind, would be Douglas Booth playing the itinerary protagonist, Armand Roulin. The stunningly charming and beautiful Eleanor Tomlinson playing Adeline Ravoux. And finally Jerome Flynn as Doctor Gachet (though that last one might be a bit of bias on my part - he impressed me deeply with his performance in GAME OF THRONES).
I want to stress that NOBODY should be discredited here, from the characters who did not even get names to the postman with the extraordinary beard, to the children who only briefly interact with Armand through his exploration of Vincent's life (and death). Everyone has a purpose. Everyone adds to the beauty seen before our eyes.
It has always brought me the worst sadness to think of Vincent and his life. Such a shame that everything he did managed to create lasting impressions down through the years, but only after his time of suffering and struggle on this earth ended. At the very least, this is a brilliant, heartfelt, loving tribute to the poor man and what he gave to the world, long after he went to the dust.
It's a horrible shame that Vincent Van Gogh's achievements were only appreciated AFTER his demise. That during his lifetime he was regarded as a kind of leper, an outcast... somebody misunderstood and terribly feared, for some reason.
So, in a jaw-dropping, unbelievable achievement of filmmaking the likes of which I never would have comprehended, much less imagined, we have LOVING VINCENT. Eight hundred and fifty three oil paintings create the animation we see here, and though I thought I had an idea of what I was getting into before I saw this...
I was WRONG. Oh my lord I was wrong.
With tears in my eyes and my jaw dropped to the floor for the first hour at least, the visual feast before my eyes is like nothing I have ever seen before in my life. The actors come to life, their caricatures made of a skin that was of Vincent's hand... as though we were watching a tale unfold through his eyes.
Is this the most action-packed, thrilling piece of cinema you will ever see?
Not by a long shot. In fact, there isn't much in the area of action anywhere to be found. I suppose to some, that may be a detriment. Surely, if you feel nothing when you look at a painting, you will most likely be bored to tears watching this film. If the painting has no meaning to you beyond a swath of paint swirls, and you cannot see the majesty, the difficulty, the scope of attempting to capture a moment in time that can both speak enough to the viewer to tell a story and at the same time show a glimpse of the world as the artist sees it, this film is not for you.
So not everyone will see what I saw when Loving Vincent. Indeed, if you are unfamiliar with him or his works, this might fall flat on your radar. The plot is not truly its strongest part.
The spectacle is. The ability to interweave Vincent's life through a world made of paintings that he himself painted, showing landscapes and buildings and people interacting in HIS VERSION of the world is simply indescribably beautiful to behold.
Nobody pulls any punches here in terms of acting. You could simply call these voice-overs, but as you will be able to tell by the credits at the end, the actors went to a lot of trouble to BECOME the characters behind the oil, most likely in an effort to help out the more than one hundred painters who made LOVING VINCENT possible. Three that stand out, in my mind, would be Douglas Booth playing the itinerary protagonist, Armand Roulin. The stunningly charming and beautiful Eleanor Tomlinson playing Adeline Ravoux. And finally Jerome Flynn as Doctor Gachet (though that last one might be a bit of bias on my part - he impressed me deeply with his performance in GAME OF THRONES).
I want to stress that NOBODY should be discredited here, from the characters who did not even get names to the postman with the extraordinary beard, to the children who only briefly interact with Armand through his exploration of Vincent's life (and death). Everyone has a purpose. Everyone adds to the beauty seen before our eyes.
It has always brought me the worst sadness to think of Vincent and his life. Such a shame that everything he did managed to create lasting impressions down through the years, but only after his time of suffering and struggle on this earth ended. At the very least, this is a brilliant, heartfelt, loving tribute to the poor man and what he gave to the world, long after he went to the dust.