lOViNG ViNCENt
Oil’s well that ends well…
CERTIFICATE 12 DIRECTOR DOROTA KOBIELA, HUGH WELCHMAN STARRING DOUGLAS BOOTH SCREENPLAY HUGH WELCHMAN, DOROTA KOBIELA, JACEK DEHNEL DISTRIBUTOR ALTITUDE RUNNING TIME 91 MINS
a n animated film like no other, Loving Vincent is a staggering visual achievement. Directed by Hugh Welchman and Dorota Kobiela, this unique project cunningly weaves a story about Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh using some 130 of his paintings and the characters within them as inspirations. Its 65,000 frames were rendered with oil paints by more than 100 artists to create a living, breathing canvas.
Set a year after his death, the story is a murder-mystery as Armand Roulin (Douglas Booth), a regular sitter for van Gogh, investigates the final days of the painter. Travelling to Auvers-sur-Oise in France, where van Gogh died of a (possibly) self-inflicted gunshot, Roulin talks to characters famed from his paintings – including Dr. Gachet (Jerome Flynn) and his daughter (Saoirse Ronan).
Keeping van Gogh (Robert Gulaczyk) in the shadows as Roulin questions why the artist would take his own life, the conspiracy theories are interesting only to a point. Likewise, the contemporary flashes of dialogue and incongruous accents grate. But as you’re immersed in van Gogh’s tortured existence, the cumulative effect is melancholic and moving. Hugely impressive.
THE VERDICT
Despite dialogue and accent issues, this is a breathtaking homage to van Gogh. There has never been a film like it.