LOVING VINCENT

There have been many movies focusing on famous Dutch Post-Impressionist painter and ear-mangler Vincent van Gogh, imaginatively titled stuff like ‘Lust for Life’, ‘Vincent’, ‘Vincent & Theo’ and ‘Van Gogh’. This newest one, ‘Loving Vincent’, is filled with contrasting and conflicting stories, theories and recollections, and descriptions of events from those who crossed paths with the talented (and occasionally psychotic) artist on a daily basis.

Inspired by more than 100 of his paintings and 800 of his letters, ‘Loving Vincent’ explores the final months of the then little-known post-impressionist painter and his untimely death in 1890 at the age of 37 - an event that remains shrouded in mystery and speculation. The story is visually interpreted through his paintings, including many of Van Gogh’s most iconic portraits and landscapes, told in his own words and those of the people who knew him, from his brother Theo to his friend and fellow painter Paul Gauguin.

Set after Van Gogh’s passing, Armand Roulin (Douglas Booth, ‘The Limehouse Golem’, ‘Mary Shelley’) comes upon a letter from the fabled painter to his brother Theo before his death, and begins the journey to deliver it. In the process, Roulin encounters all the people close to Vincent before his death: Chris O'Dowd (‘St. Vincent’, ‘The Program’) is the postman, John Sessions (‘Denial’) plays art supplier Pete Tanguy, Eleanor Thompson is the innkeeper's daughter Adaline, Jerome Flynn (‘Game of Thrones’) is the controversial Dr Gachet, Saoirse Ronan (‘Brooklyn’) is Gachet's daughter Margarita, Helen McCrory (‘Penny Dreadful’) plays the disgruntled Gachet housekeeper, Aidan Turner (‘Poldark’) is the boatman, and Robert Gulaczyk is Vincent. Since these people were all part of Van Gogh's artworks, it is fascinating to see them come to animated “life”. Through them, we are taken back to key moments of the artist’s life, mesmerisingly displayed through living oil paintings.