Vincent Van Gogh was a fine artist with a distinctive visual style. His personal life was also an interesting one and lends itself well to film.
'Loving Vincent' was an interesting film. It is an uneven and flawed film but it is also very beautiful, thoughtful and emotional, as well as having one of the most innovative visual styles of any film personally seen. It is very easy to see why a lot will like, and even love (like many have done here), 'Loving Vincent'. Can also see why others may be frustrated by it, despite the visuals and emotional impact it is wanting biographically and while it didn't bother me at all the slow pace may test people.
Would have liked for 'Loving Vincent' to have focused more on his life, which is substantial and intriguing enough to fill a film, and less on the interesting and thought-provoking but fairly speculative and controversial conspiracy theories with artistic license that will frustrate purists and historians.
Most of the script is fine but runs out of steam a little too early, which makes the conclusion not quite as satisfying as it could have been (no matter how tear-jerking one feels after the film is over). Some of the rotoscopic technique doesn't quite gel.
On the other hand, 'Loving Vincent' is mostly visually stunning and stylistically it stands out in a unique way. The oil painting animation is so rich in detail and a feast for the eyes that it's enough to make the jaw drop, the distinctive psychological rawness of the painting style captivating. The black and white flashbacks are almost classic film film-noir-like, and are not just beautifully shot in their own way but they are handled and meshed very neatly. The music score is both haunting and soothing.
The script is mostly thought-provoking and intelligent, never stilted or rambling. The story is deliberate but the melancholic tone is genuinely poignant and offers a lot of insight, even if it could have been more focused. The characters intrigue and carry the story well and they are well performed, even by Douglas Booth who tends to leave me indifferent.
In short, really liked 'Loving Vincent' but it fell a little short of me loving it. 7/10 Bethany Cox
'Loving Vincent' was an interesting film. It is an uneven and flawed film but it is also very beautiful, thoughtful and emotional, as well as having one of the most innovative visual styles of any film personally seen. It is very easy to see why a lot will like, and even love (like many have done here), 'Loving Vincent'. Can also see why others may be frustrated by it, despite the visuals and emotional impact it is wanting biographically and while it didn't bother me at all the slow pace may test people.
Would have liked for 'Loving Vincent' to have focused more on his life, which is substantial and intriguing enough to fill a film, and less on the interesting and thought-provoking but fairly speculative and controversial conspiracy theories with artistic license that will frustrate purists and historians.
Most of the script is fine but runs out of steam a little too early, which makes the conclusion not quite as satisfying as it could have been (no matter how tear-jerking one feels after the film is over). Some of the rotoscopic technique doesn't quite gel.
On the other hand, 'Loving Vincent' is mostly visually stunning and stylistically it stands out in a unique way. The oil painting animation is so rich in detail and a feast for the eyes that it's enough to make the jaw drop, the distinctive psychological rawness of the painting style captivating. The black and white flashbacks are almost classic film film-noir-like, and are not just beautifully shot in their own way but they are handled and meshed very neatly. The music score is both haunting and soothing.
The script is mostly thought-provoking and intelligent, never stilted or rambling. The story is deliberate but the melancholic tone is genuinely poignant and offers a lot of insight, even if it could have been more focused. The characters intrigue and carry the story well and they are well performed, even by Douglas Booth who tends to leave me indifferent.
In short, really liked 'Loving Vincent' but it fell a little short of me loving it. 7/10 Bethany Cox