Themes: Sibling Relationships, Tortured Genius, Down on Their Luck
Main Cast: Tim Roth, Paul Rhys, Kitty Courbois, Jip Wijngaarden, Johanna ter Steege, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Vladimir Yordanoff
Release Year: 1990
Country: US/UK/FR
Run Time: 138 minutes
Plot
The relationship between the obsessive, brilliant painter Vincent Van Gogh and his more practical brother Theo is at the center of director Robert Altman's well-received biography, originally produced as a miniseries for European television. Now universally acknowledged as masterpieces, Vincent Van Gogh's works were ignored in his lifetime, despite the best efforts of Theo, a struggling gallery owner. When he fails to make a profit from his brother's work, Theo finds himself torn between art and commerce, a conflict deepened by Vincent's increasing emotional neediness. Soon, the situation worsens, and both brothers are forced to struggle with depression and madness. Altman's distinctive directorial approach avoids clichés, allowing his leads to create contradictory and sometimes unlikable characters. Tim Roth captures Vincent's devotion to his art, his difficult personality, and his descent into mental illness without resorting to histrionics, while Paul Rhys provides equally proficient work as the more repressed Theo. The cinematography by Jean Lepine illuminates the links between Altman's trademark wandering camera and Van Gogh's impressionistic painting style. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Review
Robert Altman's moody, grungy vision of the brothers van Gogh, made for British television, opens with televised footage of the historic, multi-million dollar auction of van Gogh's "Sunflowers" and proceeds to de-mythologize van Gogh, from his ear-slashing incident to his impudent relationship with Paul Gaugin (Vladimir Yordanoff). In the hands of Tim Roth, van Gogh's legendary eccentricities (paint-eating, epileptic twitches) are reduced to mere mannerisms, as natural to the character as his shuffling gait and distant gaze. Citing the director's stance as a Hollywood expatriate for most of the 1980s, some critics saw the film as a bitter Altman riff on art, commerce, and neglected genius. But Altman rarely resorts to self-pity or comeuppance: his Vincent is an insular, instinctive loner who manages to alienate anyone close to him, save for his dedicated brother Theo (Paul Rhys). Rhys' neurotic, ambitious art dealer gives the picture some footing, and he lends credence to the script's conceit that the siblings shared an almost telepathic relationship. Altman took some license with the film's painting scenes -- he plops van Gogh, canvas and all, in the middle of fields of sunflowers -- but the sequences have a buzzy, inebriated energy as shot by Jean Lepine. Vincent and Theo works well as a counterpoint to Vincente Minnelli's and Kirk Douglas' sprightly 1956 conception of the artist, Lust for Life. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Anne Canovas - Marie; Bernadette Giraud - Marguerite Gachet; Adrian Brine - Uncle Cent; Jean-François Perrier - Dr. Paul Gachet; Vincent Vallier - Rene Valadon; Hans Kesting - Andries Bonger
Credit
Dominique Douret - Art Director, Jan Roelfs - Art Director, Ben Van - Art Director, Scott Bushnell - Costume Designer, Robert Altman - Director, Francois Coispeau - Editor, Geraldine Peroni - Editor, Gabriel Yared - Composer (Music Score), Stephen Altman - Production Designer, Jean Lepine - Cinematographer, Ludi Boeken - Producer, Pierre Siore - Set Designer, Julian Mitchell - Screenwriter
Originally a four-hour mini-series for the BBC, Robert Altman and writer Julian Mitchell were able to pare it down to two and a half hours.[1] Money on reproductions of Van Gogh's masterpieces was saved by hiring art students to do them.[1]
