8 Van Gogh films you need to see

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The great Dutchman has his birthday today.

No artist has appeared on the big screen more often than Vincent Van Gogh. This is not surprising, because the biography of the outrageous Dutchman pulls on a ready-made script. Van Gogh was haunted all his life by a sense of loneliness. He deliberately lived in complete poverty, and then inexplicably and suddenly died, leaving connoisseurs of creativity to fight over the mystery of his death.

Or perhaps the reason is that Van Gogh's painting - an acclaimed virtuoso of color - is incredibly cinematic. Now that his paintings are among the most expensive in the world, it seems a terrible injustice that the artist was destined to live only 37 years.

1. Lust for life

• USA, 1956.
• Biographical film, drama.
• Duration: 122 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

Biographical drama directed by Vincent Minnelli based on the novel of the same name by Irving Stone. The film methodically introduces the viewer to the life story of Van Gogh and his work, which did not find recognition during his lifetime.

The film's greatest strength is the thoroughness with which it follows the literary source. But the picture, sterile to the point of implausibility, does not at all correspond to both historical realities and the way of life that the real Van Gogh led.

The image of Van Gogh was embodied by the famous Kirk Douglas, who received a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for this role.

2. Vincent

• Australia, Belgium, 1987.
• Documentary, biopic, drama.
• Duration: 105 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

A reflection film entirely dedicated to the last years of the artist's life. The main roles here are the leisurely successive canvases of Van Gogh and the voiceover of the legendary actor John Hurt, reading the correspondence between Vincent and Theo.

Australian filmmaker Paul Cox has created a truly contemplative documentary that requires thoughtful viewing. At the end, the viewer gets a detailed snapshot of Van Gogh's personality - as an artist and as a person.

3. Vincent and Theo

• Germany, Netherlands, France, Great Britain, Italy, 1990.
• Biographical film, drama.
• Duration: 194 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

The drama directed by Robert Altman examines the artist's life through the prism of his relationship with his younger brother Theodorus (better known as Theo). While Vincent lives in poverty and completely devotes himself to working on paintings, Theo, on the contrary, leads an emphatically secular lifestyle. However, love for art and for each other binds the brothers until the end of their days.

The image of Van Gogh was embodied by Tim Roth, one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite actors (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, The Hateful Eight).

4. Van Gogh

• France, 1991.
• Biographical film, drama.
• Duration: 110 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

The tape tells about the final days of Van Gogh's life in the town of Auvers-sur-Oise and how his last paintings were painted. According to the film, the artist was inspired to create them by the young daughter of Paul Gachet, who is not indifferent to the art of a doctor.

French director Maurice Pialat started his career late and managed to shoot not so many films, but almost all of them are recognized as outstanding. "Van Gogh" was no exception, and it can be called one of the most unusual biographical sketches in the history of cinema. Piala tells about the life of a brilliant artist honestly and without embellishment: madness against the background of alcohol addiction, going to a brothel.

For the role of Vincent Van Gogh, singer and actor Jacques Dutron was awarded the Cesar Prize (and in total the film was nominated in 12 nominations).

5. Yellow house

• UK, 2007.
• Biographical film, drama.
• Duration: 73 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

Van Gogh dreams of creating a creative community where artists could live and work in an atmosphere of complete mutual understanding. To do this, he rents an old estate in Arles, which he calls the Yellow House, and invites his friend Paul Gauguin there.

However, not everything goes smoothly. The self-confident perfectionist Gauguin cannot get along with the undisciplined and restless Van Gogh, and the relationship between friends begins to deteriorate rapidly.

The film is worth watching in order to learn in all details the history of the Yellow House in La Martin Square, which Van Gogh portrayed on the famous canvas of the same name.

Although the British John Simm in the role of Van Gogh bears a very distant resemblance to the great artist, the filmmakers managed to convey the main thing - the contrast between Van Gogh's fiery dedication and Gauguin's pragmatism.

6. Van Gogh: a portrait written in words

• UK, 2010.
• Documentary, biopic, drama.
• Duration: 80 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

A documentary-drama directed by BBC One filmmakers based on Van Gogh's letters to his beloved brother Theo. The action begins in the Arles psychiatric hospital after the incident with the severed ear in 1988. Then the film takes the viewer to 1872, when Van Gogh sends his brother the very first letter.

The film carefully examines the life of Van Gogh, but at the same time does not turn into dry documentary. Rather, it is a fascinating journey that allows you to get closer to the artist through immersion in his letters. In them, Van Gogh, whose image was embodied by Benedict Cumberbatch, appears hardworking, emotional and empathetic.

7. Van Gogh. Love, Vincent

• UK, Poland, USA, 2017.
• Biographical film, drama.
• Duration: 94 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

Armand Roulin, the postmaster's son, sets out in search of the addressee of Van Gogh's last letter. Gradually, the protagonist realizes that the circumstances of the artist's death are extremely ambiguous.

Directors Dorota Kobella and Hugh Welshman spent about seven years in total on the creation of an animated film about the life of Van Gogh. Their creative team of 125 artists hand-painted over 60,000 unique frames in oil. The result is one of the most amazing experimental films in the history of cinema - a veritable kaleidoscope of canvases that come to life.

This charming film, which is a work of art in itself, is able to fall in love with the paintings of the great Dutchman, even those who are full of skepticism towards Post-Impressionism. And therefore it is perfect for getting acquainted with the work of the artist.

8. Van Gogh. On the threshold of eternity

• UK, France, USA, 2018.
• Biographical film, drama.
• Duration: 110 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 9.

The film directed by Julian Schnabel tells the story of the final and most fruitful period of Van Gogh's life, spent in the south of France.

Schnabel said that his directorial work is largely determined by his vision as an artist. Perhaps this explains the fact that it is not the first time that Julian has filmed biographies of creative people.

The director's filmography includes films about the artist ("Basquiat"), the poet ("Until the night falls") and the writer ("The Spacesuit and the Butterfly"). It is interesting that the theme of the relationship between the creator and death, touched upon in the latter, is revealed in Schnabel's new film from a completely different angle.

From the point of view of historical accuracy, the film is not entirely unambiguous. It is believed that Van Gogh died from a gunshot wound to the heart, which he inflicted on himself. However, in 2011, American art critics Stephen Knife and Gregory White Smith put forward an alternative theory.

According to her, Vincent Van Gogh did not commit suicide, but was killed by a 16-year-old French teenager Rene Secretan. And it is precisely this version, which has already been partly touched upon by the creators of the film “Van Gogh. Love, Vincent,”develops iconic screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière.

Be that as it may, the question of how Van Gogh died after all, I would like to leave to culturologists in order to simply enjoy the sincere and genuine image of the artist, created by the winner of the Venice Film Festival, Willem Dafoe.