If you are an art or film fanatic (or both), a movie has recently come out that would well suit you. "Loving Vincent" came out late last year and is the first fully painted film. It tells about the theories and mysteries of the famous artist's death. Famous paintings are depicted in the scenes of the movie, each inspired by van Gogh himself. Over one hundred artists worked on the film, and it ended up taking four years to complete.
One would imagine the movie would be about the entirety of Vincent's life - but it's much more focused on why and how he died. The movie is set one year after Vincent's suicide, and an aloof Armand Roulin is told by his father, Joseph Roulin. This was to send a letter written by van Gogh to his brother, Theo, which was never delivered. In the letter, van Gogh states that he is calm, which provokes Joseph and makes him suddenly skeptical about van Gogh's death. When Armand agrees to take the note, he travels to Paris to deliver it to Theo.
Once Armand arrives in Paris, he hears Theo has died. Throughout the rest of Armand's journey, he meets people who knew van Gogh, and they share their own stories about him. Armand learns more about the artist every day, and believes that van Gogh did not kill himself after all. When he finally gets in contact with van Gogh's doctor, the story of his death is unfolded before him.
The title of the movie is named after van Gogh's last letter which he signed, "Your loving Vincent". The passages narrated in the film are actual quotes from letters exchanged between van Gogh and his friends - they are read to trigger emotions of the artist's struggle with mental health and the secret relations he held with others.
"Loving Vincent" is easily one of the best films made about an artist with a dark past. The film uncovers the truth which many did not know, and is done in an aesthetically appealing way. The geniuses behind "Loving Vincent" captured his style throughout the whole film and made each part mesmerizing to watch.
van Gogh's technique in painting fits with the overall theme of the movie because his paintings already appear to move. When Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman (directors and producers) created the film, they made van Gogh's paintings come to life with time and extreme amounts of hard work.
Written in a letter one week before his death, van Gogh said, "we cannot speak other than by our paintings."
