by Lucia Ott, on Feb 16, 2018 12:41:22 PM
Vincent van Gogh is one of the most famous painters in the world. Everybody knows his "Sunflowers" and many other masterpieces. But he is also known for his tragic life, that is riddled with self-doubt and depressions. Only think of the incident, where he cut off his own ear and then captured this tragedy in a self-portrait.
The new movie "Loving Vincent" deals with the story of the artist’s life and death. And it literally brings his works to life, because it is the first fully painted film in the world. The director Dorota Kobiela successfully combined her two passions: painting and movie making. The scenes were firstly shot with real actors in a film studio, in order to have precise templates for the final images.
Over 65 000 frames were painted over step by step on more than 1 000 canvases. It was an extremely laborious process to create the 1h 35min long movie. This huge project was possible only with a team of over 100 painters, who were working in the studios in Poland and Greece for over two years,
The story behind the movie is based on Vincent van Gogh’s letters. It begins with the message, that Vincent shot himself. A friend of the artist wants to pay his last respect to Vincent by delivering one of his last letters to his brother Theo. He sends his son Armand Roulin to find the brother and hand over the letter. This is the beginning of a journey during which he – and the moviegoer – get more and more insight into Vincent van Gogh’s life in the countryside of Auvers-sur-Oise... and his mysterious death.
Not so much because of the storytelling, but because of its powerful visual language, "Loving Vincent" offers an outstanding cinematic experience. The flickering colors dancing on the screen cast a spell over the viewer.
This homage to van Gogh is a fascinating example of how movie makers every now and again manage to surprise the audience with new original ideas. And, by the way, Prague College’s Film club offers, as a part of student activities, a meeting point for movie lovers to watch more such inspiring films.
