The world's first fully oil-painted film premiered at MAMI festival
'Loving Vincent'
U/A: Animation- biography
Dir: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman
Cast: Douglas Booth, Jerome Flynn, Robert Gulaczyk
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The making of the world's first fully oil-painted film is one that needs to be first spoken of in numbers. The film is made of 65,000 individual frames, painted by 125 artists over six years, with a budget of $5 million. Bear in mind these stats as you watch Loving Vincent. As the film opens with the starry swirls that we recognise as one of Vincent van Gogh's masterpieces, you realise this is a sheer labour of love, not logic.
Robert Gulaczyk as Vincent van Gogh in Loving Vincent
From co-directors Hugh Welchman and Dorota Kobiela, Loving Vincent takes some getting used to. The landscapes and characters continuously pulsate, and colours swirl on screen — it's astounding, but your eyes need to adjust to the newness of it all. That done, you are set to follow the film. The paintings were made using a rotoscope — simply put, actors were filmed first and then frames were painted over. This is the first time that filmmakers have experimented with such a technique, so let's be patient.
The story starts a year after the genius artist shot himself in 1890. The postmaster, Joseph Roulin, has with him an undelivered letter from van Gogh to his brother, Theo. He sets his son, Armand, on a mission to get the letter to the hands of Theo, who we later learn has passed away as well. In a world where both the van Gogh brothers have departed, Armand pieces together memories of van Gogh in his last days at Auvers-sur-Oise. His quest leads to different accounts of van Gogh's death, and then the ultimate question: Was the artist murdered?
In the course of his journey, Armand meets a host of familiar names and faces — you'll recognise them in a heartbeat if you're an ardent follower of van Gogh's works.However, the investment made in technique falls short when it comes to plot. Part biopic and part detective story, Loving Vincent seems a little all over the place. Armand's quest is too episodic to have the cliff-hangers that a good thriller needs to have. Viewers may also find that Loving Vincent doesn't have the same narrative grasp as, say, Lust for Life (1956), starring Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted from the biographical novel on van Gogh by Irving Stone.
But this one doesn't set out to solve van Gogh's death. Instead, it is a celebration of the artist's life, through the sheer breadth of paintings that it manages to pull in. If you ever wanted to live in a van Gogh work, this is the closest you can get.
Watch 'Loving Vincent' Trailer
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