Not being familiar by name alone with the painting of the same name as this film, I had no idea what this movie was about when I began watching it. (No, I hand’t even looked at the movie poster; I had this on my viewing list only based on award nominations.) Quickly, I realized it was going to be about artists. Then I saw Willem Defoe, who, unquestionably, was playing Vincent Van Gogh.
Like the name of various paintings, I don’t know enough about Van Gogh to know whether all that was depicted was accurate (does anyone?). That said, the movie leaves major gaps, which actually made sense. These gaps occur when otherwise Van Gogh would reportedly have been having a break down or a break from reality. Thus, skipping the actual scenes and jumping to the aftermath make sense when you think this is Van Gogh’s story; no doubt his recollection of those times is inexistent or, at the very least, unreliable and incomplete. (Yes, this even includes leaving out the actual action involving his ear.)
The movie covers Van Gogh’s final two or three years. And a good bit of the film focuses on Van Gogh’s time in an asylum toward the end of his life. (Over those eighty days, he painted 75 paintings. (It was there he painted Starry Night—the view he has outside of his window.)) What struck me most was not Van Gogh’s mental health (or lack thereof) but the rudimentary treatment of such. When we think of the manner in which mental illness was approached and treated, one need not wonder how far we have come in barely over a century.
(Interesting too (and quite revealing) is Van Gogh’s discussion on religion, his comments being judged as showing his madness, showing instead his grasp of reality. This, then, reminds us that one’s “reality” is often colored by his own perceptions and beliefs. And sometimes those beliefs are too strong to respond to fact, logic, or historical evidence.)
The film plays with light in a manner not unlike Van Gogh in his paintings. And this effect worked well to me. But the camera play did not. Too often the camera play—the jostling, angled, hard-to-follow perspectives tired and nearly nauseated me.
Yes, Defoe provides a fabulously solid performance. His brush strokes, worry, and quiet contemplation all seem as one might think Van Gogh was. He’s received fifteen Best Actor nominations for this role, including from the Academy (his first Best Actor nomination) and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the Golden Globes). He won his category in three lesser-known organizations. As much as I enjoyed watching him portray Van Gogh in At Eternity’s Gate, I liked his performance in Florida Projectmore. I don’t think this is his year for the Oscar.