One of my favorite Movies.
Added 2/10/2005
Yes; this is a must see!
If you are an art lover and can feel the energy in Van Gogh's Painting's; this Movie will add to ones feeling's of what drove Van Gogh to create such impressive oils. When I was in high school I remember my Art teacher asking us what we thought about famous oils she had displayed. I stated " I do not like Sun Flowers!" Why, was her response. I told her I did not like the way it makes me feel!! Well I was informed that was what made Van Gogh so famous. He was a great force in Emotionalism. In later years I realized how great his stuff was. He reflected his life and situations in his paintings. They can be felt. Why should I ramble about my own life? Well This movie is a work of emotionalism in itself. I realized this after trying to paint a way that expressed my own emotions. I did not realize this until I myself walked pass a Poster Shop in a mall. Sitting on an easal was a painting by Van Gogh. Yep; He had done what I was fighting to do!! Realizing this I went home and painted my emotions on canvas. My emotions were so much different but he paved the way. This movie let me relive my new found love of Van Gogh's work. It connects you to his life, which in turn is his paintings. No movie I have ever watched can pull you in so fast and hard as this one. It is as if the director pulled you into one of Van Gogh's paintings. Which again, was his life.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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VINCENT AND THEO-WONDERFUL!!!
Added 1/25/2005
I JUST SAW THIS MOVIE ON A&E CHANNEL, LAST NIGHT.
THIS BIOGRAPHY OF VINCENT VAN GOGH'S LIFE WAS VERY INTERESTING AND EXTREMELY SAD AT THE SAME TIME.
VAN GOGH'S BROTHER, THEO, WAS SUCH A LOVING BROTHER TO VINCENT IN THEIR EXTRA-ORDINARY LIVES, TOGETHER OR APART.
THE STORY OF A 'STARVING ARTIST/PAINTER' WOULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR VINCENT VAN GOGH. HE TRIED SO HARD AND ONLY SOLD 1 PAINTING WHILE HE WAS ALIVE!!!THIS IS SO TRAGIC TO ME.
IT SEEMS THAT HE SUFFERED FROM BEING BI-POLAR/MANIC DEPRESSIVE.
THEN, AFTER ALL HIS STRUGGLES HE COMMITTED SUICIDE AT 37 YEARS YOUNG!
THE STAR OF THIS FILM WHO PLAYED VINCENT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!
I WISH IT WOULD BE RELEASED IN DVD FORMAT.
THIS FILM IS A MUST SEE AND WILL STAY WITH YOU FOR A LONG TIME, IF YOU HAVE EMPATHY FOR THE CHARACTERS BEING PORTRAYED. WOW!
4 out of 6 people found this helpful.
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The Isolation of the Artist's Mind: A Brilliant Masterwork!
Added 9/6/2004
VINCENT AND THEO is one of the finest cinematic biographies of an artist's life, mind, idiosyncrasies, and delayed appreciation of genius to date. The multitalented Robert Altman created this brilliant masterpiece in 1990 and though this VHS version (where oh where is the DVD?!) of the American release is slightly over two hours in length, there apparently is more of the story meandering the European theatre. Altman has the sense and sensitivity to create a script based on the letters of Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo van Gogh, a man equally as tortured as his famous brother but in different ways: Theo dedicated his life as an art dealer in Paris in the late 19th century attempting to sell his brother's art. But Theo was even more than a brother supporting Vincent's unappreciated genius paintings, he also cared for Vincent's livelihood, provided 'bought' companions such as Gauguin to live with him in hopes of mutual communication and creative impetus, and tended to Vincent's problematic mental eccentricities that resulted in self mutilation and 'hospitalizations' in mental institutions. Altman has crafted this story with intensive research and there rarely is a scene for the action that does not in some way reference one of van Gogh's paintings: the screen is alive with the sunflower fields, the wheat fields, the poplars, the billiard table, the dank quarters in Arles and the oddities of the studios in Auvers, the bars and brothels, the salons of Paris. But all of this would be for naught if the film were not well cast. Tim Roth is totally immersed in the role of Vincent to the point that from his red hair, rotten teeth, hunched swagger, and body language, he IS Vincent. Few actors can make us tolerate a man so bent on harming himself and so full of emotional pain that his physical outbursts become obnoxious in their frequency. Roth not only shows us this side of Vincent, but he transcends the public shell with the inordinately tender aspect of Vincent's brain. As Theo, Paul Rhys is as extraordinary in his breadth of characterization as is Roth. The well chosen supporting cast includes Wladimir Yordanoff as Gauguin, Jean-Pierre Cassel as Dr. Gachet, and Johanna Ter Steege as the bizarre wife of Theo, to mention only a few. The cinematography is breathtaking and the consummate musical score by Gabriel Yared captures the inner workings of van Gogh's agonizingly tangled mind while still soaring with the incarnations of the landscapes van Gogh painted. One only hopes that the complete version of this film will be made available on DVD - for artists, for art libraries, for art lovers, and for all of us who care about the special qualities of genius that sometimes sleep until time and taste awakens them. Brilliant!
8 out of 8 people found this helpful.
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The Bimbo from Atlanta Georgia Should Re-Watch this Film !!!
Added 4/28/2004
This is a Very Moving Film and shot in a very Stark and Realistic manner...Guess She was Just Too Mentally Challeged to see that !!! Gabriel Yared score is meant to make the viewer Uncomfortable just like the unrest in Van Gogh's mind...Guess She is Too Dense to catch that too !!! Must be a Peroxide Bottle Blonde :) Lol...HA,HA,HA The Acting was GREAT TOO !!!
1 out of 16 people found this helpful.
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back to the drawing board
Added 9/4/2002
This film was a drastic disappointment. Firstly, the soundtrack is horrendous - a piercing, ferociously screeching mess...if the composer was trying to relay Van Gogh's angst and madness, he suceeded more so in annoyance, when at times the music overshadowed and drowned out the dialogue. The story, although delivering passionate exchanges between the two brothers, flatlines in character development - it is mostly devoid of warmth, failing to draw the viewer in to the soul of the brothers Van Gogh...one is left feeling pity for the pathetic dysfunction, rather than empathy for Van Gogh's passionate longing, joy and despair.... i have said for years that no one has yet portrayed Van Gogh's life properly in film, and i will continue to have this opinion until some talented filmmaker (with brilliant composer in tow) does justice to this enigmatic and misunderstood artist.
14 out of 20 people found this helpful.
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One of my favorite Movies.
Added 2/10/2005
Yes; this is a must see!
If you are an art lover and can feel the energy in Van Gogh's Painting's; this Movie will add to ones feeling's of what drove Van Gogh to create such impressive oils. When I was in high school I remember my Art teacher asking us what we thought about famous oils she had displayed. I stated " I do not like Sun Flowers!" Why, was her response. I told her I did not like the way it makes me feel!! Well I was informed that was what made Van Gogh so famous. He was a great force in Emotionalism. In later years I realized how great his stuff was. He reflected his life and situations in his paintings. They can be felt. Why should I ramble about my own life? Well This movie is a work of emotionalism in itself. I realized this after trying to paint a way that expressed my own emotions. I did not realize this until I myself walked pass a Poster Shop in a mall. Sitting on an easal was a painting by Van Gogh. Yep; He had done what I was fighting to do!! Realizing this I went home and painted my emotions on canvas. My emotions were so much different but he paved the way. This movie let me relive my new found love of Van Gogh's work. It connects you to his life, which in turn is his paintings. No movie I have ever watched can pull you in so fast and hard as this one. It is as if the director pulled you into one of Van Gogh's paintings. Which again, was his life.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
|
VINCENT AND THEO-WONDERFUL!!!
Added 1/25/2005
I JUST SAW THIS MOVIE ON A&E CHANNEL, LAST NIGHT.
THIS BIOGRAPHY OF VINCENT VAN GOGH'S LIFE WAS VERY INTERESTING AND EXTREMELY SAD AT THE SAME TIME.
VAN GOGH'S BROTHER, THEO, WAS SUCH A LOVING BROTHER TO VINCENT IN THEIR EXTRA-ORDINARY LIVES, TOGETHER OR APART.
THE STORY OF A 'STARVING ARTIST/PAINTER' WOULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR VINCENT VAN GOGH. HE TRIED SO HARD AND ONLY SOLD 1 PAINTING WHILE HE WAS ALIVE!!!THIS IS SO TRAGIC TO ME.
IT SEEMS THAT HE SUFFERED FROM BEING BI-POLAR/MANIC DEPRESSIVE.
THEN, AFTER ALL HIS STRUGGLES HE COMMITTED SUICIDE AT 37 YEARS YOUNG!
THE STAR OF THIS FILM WHO PLAYED VINCENT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!
I WISH IT WOULD BE RELEASED IN DVD FORMAT.
THIS FILM IS A MUST SEE AND WILL STAY WITH YOU FOR A LONG TIME, IF YOU HAVE EMPATHY FOR THE CHARACTERS BEING PORTRAYED. WOW!
4 out of 6 people found this helpful.
|
The Isolation of the Artist's Mind: A Brilliant Masterwork!
Added 9/6/2004
VINCENT AND THEO is one of the finest cinematic biographies of an artist's life, mind, idiosyncrasies, and delayed appreciation of genius to date. The multitalented Robert Altman created this brilliant masterpiece in 1990 and though this VHS version (where oh where is the DVD?!) of the American release is slightly over two hours in length, there apparently is more of the story meandering the European theatre. Altman has the sense and sensitivity to create a script based on the letters of Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo van Gogh, a man equally as tortured as his famous brother but in different ways: Theo dedicated his life as an art dealer in Paris in the late 19th century attempting to sell his brother's art. But Theo was even more than a brother supporting Vincent's unappreciated genius paintings, he also cared for Vincent's livelihood, provided 'bought' companions such as Gauguin to live with him in hopes of mutual communication and creative impetus, and tended to Vincent's problematic mental eccentricities that resulted in self mutilation and 'hospitalizations' in mental institutions. Altman has crafted this story with intensive research and there rarely is a scene for the action that does not in some way reference one of van Gogh's paintings: the screen is alive with the sunflower fields, the wheat fields, the poplars, the billiard table, the dank quarters in Arles and the oddities of the studios in Auvers, the bars and brothels, the salons of Paris. But all of this would be for naught if the film were not well cast. Tim Roth is totally immersed in the role of Vincent to the point that from his red hair, rotten teeth, hunched swagger, and body language, he IS Vincent. Few actors can make us tolerate a man so bent on harming himself and so full of emotional pain that his physical outbursts become obnoxious in their frequency. Roth not only shows us this side of Vincent, but he transcends the public shell with the inordinately tender aspect of Vincent's brain. As Theo, Paul Rhys is as extraordinary in his breadth of characterization as is Roth. The well chosen supporting cast includes Wladimir Yordanoff as Gauguin, Jean-Pierre Cassel as Dr. Gachet, and Johanna Ter Steege as the bizarre wife of Theo, to mention only a few. The cinematography is breathtaking and the consummate musical score by Gabriel Yared captures the inner workings of van Gogh's agonizingly tangled mind while still soaring with the incarnations of the landscapes van Gogh painted. One only hopes that the complete version of this film will be made available on DVD - for artists, for art libraries, for art lovers, and for all of us who care about the special qualities of genius that sometimes sleep until time and taste awakens them. Brilliant!
8 out of 8 people found this helpful.
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