Loving Vincent (2017)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Loving Vincent (2017) – D. Kobiela & H. Welchman

Beautifully animated by 100 artists creating more than 800 original oil paintings, often involving rotoscoping of actors playing the parts of Vincent Van Gogh and his associates.  Notably, all of the paintings are in the unmistakable style of Van Gogh – and some of his works are reproduced (of course).  So, the film is amazing to look at and takes me back fondly to my memories of the Van Gogh exhibit here in Melbourne last year (the wheatfields and the crows).  The plot follows the son (Armand) of Van Gogh’s friend and subject Postman Joseph Roulin who travels to Paris after the painter’s death to deliver a letter from Vincent to his brother Theo.  When Theo turns out to be dead, Armand travels to Arles to interview the people who knew Vincent at the end, including Doctor Gachet and Marguerite Gachet (voiced by Saoirse Ronan).  He comes up with a theory that Van Gogh might have been murdered rather than a suicide; however, I’m not sure this really adds enough tension to the plot to sustain interest.  Having recently watched Kirk Douglas as Vincent in Lust for Life (1956), I knew many of the details of the painter’s life and perhaps the plot could be less clear without this background knowledge.  The remake of Don McLean’s “Starry, starry night” playing over the end credits is a nice touch.