As can easily be ascertained by the title, this Australian documentary focuses upon that most tortured of artistic geniuses, Vincent Van Gogh. Filmmaker Paul Cox utilizes Vincent's Dear Theo letters to his brother as the dramatic spine of this visual feast.
Van Gogh's fiercely impressionistic paintings alternate with real life images of the places and faces that the artist wished to convey. John Hurt reads Van Gogh's words in a manner than can be characterized as controlled turbulence.
Vincent: The Life & Death of Vincent Van Gogh would make an excellent companion piece to Robert Altman's like-vintage Vincent and Theo -- or, for that matter, the 1955 Hollywood romanticization Lust for Life.
Director: | Paul Cox |