Review of Loving Vincent (2017) by Andrewmakatsari — 10 Oct 2017

Animated films are always an interesting genre of film, mostly because of the reason the filmmakers choose to portray their material in a visual style used more for episodic natures of anime or tv shows, the purpose behind it may be purely there for the visual style but other times filmmakers have found compelling ways to add substance that is enhanced by the visual style, British co-writer/co-director's debut film "Loving Vincent" is one such case.

"Loving Vincent" tells the story of a mystery surrounding Van Gogh's death, approaching from a unique detective perspective, following Armand Roulin, the son of a famous postman who was a close friend to Van Gogh as well as deliver many of his letters. Armand travels around Europe in search of relatives or closer people he could deliver his father's farewell letter to, but finds the mystery surrounding Gogh's death and the deceiving locals to be of higher priority. Douglas Booth is absolutely fantastic as Armand, whom I have never seen before but will love to see more from now on. From the second he appears on the screen all the way to the end of the film, he is a strong, charismatic and relatable presence that audience easily sympathizes with as he is young and arrogant, but reasonably so as he is far more interested at succeeding at his own life rather than go looking for answers for someone else's death, the peer pressure he feels from relatives can be understood by even the youngest members in the audience. The supporting cast is excellent as well, with Saoirse Ronan standing out as Madame Gachet, the wife of Doctor Gachet(played equally well by Jerome Flynn) who appears mean and mysterious from the first page of her carefully drawn canvas pictures. The whodunit plot is easy to follow, and the wealth of flashbacks and backstories provided by the colorful characters Armand comes across are emotionally punctual and enthralling, with complementary editing that keeps the pace brisk, yet adventurous, slow but deliberately so, that along with Clint Mansell's(Ghost in the Shell, Black Swan) is beautiful, haunting and compelling, he's certainly a composer to watch out for.

The artwork, or rather the visual style I was referring to has been hand drawn by over 120 artists, painting over 60000 paintings on canvases, with the intended purpose to recreate both the style of Van Gogh's paintings and capture the visual appearance of the actors in a way that doesn't feel too realistic but not otherworldly either, somewhere in between would be the correct phrasing. The film is absolutely beautiful, the cinematography is excellent, as it draws on many of Gogh's famous works, translates them onto the screen, incorporates them into the narrative, in a way that makes his paintings quite literally come to life or gain new meaning, a new life. It's rare that a film with so much style and such simple premise manages to be so enhancing, I found the style of the film to be more than just good-looking, but also fitting and poignant, as the story gets darker and Gogh is made out by characters to NOT to be the angel we'd think he'd have been by simply looking at his work, the style of the film reminds us once again that there was beauty to his madness and his pain, adding all the more weight to the story as we're even more intrigued by what would've led a person this talented to draw himself an end so tragic. In an age where films are dominated by CGI, deterring audiences and pulling them out of the film's established reality, "Loving Vincent" does the complete opposite, it draws them further in and doesn't let go for the entirety of its runtime, furthermore it talks about life and influence and how people tend to look at the aspects of someone's life that may not be as important as the things they've left behind and the things that they could've left behind if said aspects of his/her life wouldn't have been caused by people who should've loved him.

"Loving Vincent" is a powerful piece of cinema, with strong performances from a talented cast, each and every frame feels like it has a purpose, to excite, scare, enrich and educate people on the work of a master, and by being so successful at it, the films becomes something of a masterpiece of its own, one whose basic premise you start to overlook as you realize how much it has moved you, by utilizing all aspects of film making, by being genuinely creative and unique and very much so daring, just like the person it's based upon.