LOVING VINCENT [2017]
⇒ In LOVING VINCENT, famous painter Vincent Van Gogh has recently died, and the postmaster (voiced by Chris O'Dowd) has an undelivered letter for him. The postmaster sends his son, Armand Roulin (Douglas Booth), to find Van Gogh's brother Theo, but Armand discovers that Theo, too, has passed away. So the young man continues his travels, visiting Van Gogh's last-known haunts in France, to discover who is most deserving of receiving the letter. Armand interviews many of the people who knew or spoke with Van Gogh and hears many curiously conflicting stories. Some say that Van Gogh may have had a young lover, which complicates matters. And some say that, rather than having committed suicide -- as was the general perception -- the artist might have been murdered.
Reportedly the first fully painted animated film in history, this seven-years-in-the-making effort is often breathtakingly beautiful. And, truth be told, if you're going to make a movie about Van Gogh, why not make it in beautiful paintings? Loving Vincentis based on the actual people who sat for Van Gogh's works, complete with their clothing and poses, and when the movie re-creates an actual portrait or a landscape, it's awe-inspiring.
But things get more troublesome when the movie includes dialogue between characters; the animation in these sequences is done with rotoscoping (similar to the technique used in Richard Linklater's Waking Life), and the style is less appealing -- it doesn't quite match. Not to mention that these end up being pretty basic scenes of two heads talking. And while the story works as a pulp mystery that's somewhat based on real events, it also feels a little slight for the incredible artistry that went into the filmmaking. That said, while its elements might not all click precisely into place, Loving Vincent is still a very entertaining and gorgeous movie, and it could inspire viewers to look further into Van Gogh's real-life output.
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