Product Description

The most profound exploration of an artist's soul ever to be put on film (Village Voice), VINCENT: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF VINCENT VAN GOGH is a captivating study of a brilliant artist. One of the Top 10 documentaries the year it was released, Paul Cox's portrait of Vincent Van Gogh is a journey through the life of a tortured genius who became one of the greatest artists of all time. The story is told through letters written to his brother Theo from 1872 until 1890, eloquently read by actor John Hurt.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41256 in DVD
• Brand: New Video
• Released on: 2005-08-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.com
The best film about Vincent Van Gogh is not one of the many biopics of the painter, but this stirring, ardent documentary. Forgoing a conventional biography's and-then-he-cut-his-ear-off approach, the gifted Dutch-Australian director Paul Cox opts for pure evocation: he trails his camera through the places where Van Gogh walked, as though trying to dream his way into the artist's mindset. Meanwhile, the beautiful voice of John Hurt reads from Vincent's amazingly searching letters to his brother, Theo. (Hurt's voice probably deserved an Oscar for this vocal-cord performance alone.) Van Gogh's journey as struggling artist and tormented man of soul is thus made strangely direct--it will not only send you to see Vincent's paintings but to locate a copy of his collected letters as well. Many film directors have grappled with this subject: Vincente Minnelli with Lust for Life, Robert Altman with Vincent & Theo, Maurice Pialat with Van Gogh. But the perpetually underappreciated Cox (Innocence) has trumped them with simplicity and sheer intensity of feeling. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

In his own words...
"I will not live without love." ~Vincent van Gogh

The story of Vincent van Gogh's life seems best told in his own words, complete with casual sketches, detailed drawings and famous paintings. In the spirit of "Crows" in Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (where we see the Langlois Bridge and Crows in the Wheatfields brought to life), we are entertained by visions of painting after painting. It is fun to watch Akira Kurosawa's Dreams after viewing this movie because then you recognize the paintings that were brought to life in a dream of pure visual delight.

The Café Terrace, Yellow House, Fishing Boats, Bedroom at Arles, Starry Night and Sunflowers are some of the paintings featured, but there is an entire world of Vincent van Gogh's art that is introduced with analytical letters written to his brother. In these letters he tells his brother of the art he is working on and his motivating influences all while we the viewer are entertained with the art, scenes from nature and the acting out of various scenes (Night Café with Pool Table) that eventually became paintings. There are fields of olive trees from Olive Trees 1889 and Vincent's letter speaks of the difficulty of capturing the colors in the soil and tree bark.

When you hear the story of Vincent van Gogh's life in his own words, suddenly he becomes so much more than a famous artist. His life is filled with tragedy and hardship, but he is also able to find stunning beauty through his love of philosophy and his view of the world seems to remain relatively positive right up until his death. He not only travels, he also lives with Gauguin. The art shown after living with Gauguin shows how being able to relate to someone like himself increased his creativity.

He speaks of how he is a self-taught artist and how thankful he is that he was not trained and therefore had to experiment with paint to produce eye-catching effects. As he travels, his world expands and so does his art. He tries to capture his experience in 1,800 works during his life and while they can't all be shown in this movie, the director tries to capture as many beautiful scenes and pieces of art as he can in as many ways film allows. The creativity is delightful as actors take their places and then a picture emerges.

"How lovely yellow is." ~Vincent van Gogh

He seems far from debilitating madness in his letters (he talks about episodes) and more inclined towards deep contemplations and philosophical discussions. He seems to be reaching out to a world that does not quite understand him all while trying to make the lives of those around him less lonely.

The movie begins with his lofty spiritual goals and ends with his death. We learn so much about this artist, of his being homesick for the land of pictures and how he felt compelled to capture the daily activities of the peasants.

The goodness in his heart truly shines through the darkness of his later days as he helps a woman most would have shunned and must live without the love of the woman he wanted to marry.

Through a weaving of philosophy and art, Paul Cox created a stunning and somewhat mesmerizing journey through the life of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). I watched both the movie and the interview three times because the thoughts and experiences are so compelling. Of all the movies I've seen on an artist's life, this is my favorite. What makes this truly memorable are the letters from Vincent to Theo read eloquently by John Hurt.

After watching this, you may find yourself looking for a book about Vincent van Gogh's art or his letters in order to find some of the art shown in this movie or to expand your knowledge of his writing and philosophy. While many emphasize the madness, this movie emphasizes the struggle for beauty and the unending desire of the artist to capture all that he loves.

~The Rebecca Review

The Definitive Van Gogh
I can only imagine how pleased Van Gogh would be at seeing his work articulated through Paul Cox's lens. Interspersed with countless images of Van Gogh's original work, are cinematic images of the landscapes, the still-lifes, the town, and the people that Van Gogh knew so well. Cox unassumingly uses real people and costumes in an almost dream-like fashion; they exist along the edges of the film, in a sort of blur; as if we were living directly in Van Gogh's dreams and memories. What's most astounding though, is that I never knew what an incredibly gifted writer Van Gogh was. The entire film is narration of Van Gogh's words, in letters written to his brother. His passion, idealism, and frustration are articulated in ways that are so tangible ... it makes all other works about frustrated idealists seem downright silly. It took me a while to warm up to John Hurt's narration because I kept envisioning him instead of Van Gogh, but after a little while I got lost in the words just and concentrated on the feeling that Hurt was evoking. By the end I was in tears. It's the best film about an artist that I've ever seen. - - - Also, don't forget to check out the fantastic 55 minute documentary on the film's director, Paul Cox; a soul mate of Van Gogh's to be sure.

Know him now!!!! And love him always!!!!
Vincent Van Gogh's letter's to Theo (his brother and care taker) read in chronological order. And at the same time the letters are read the camera takes you to the location or visual that best depicts the content of these letters. Get a first hand feel of what was going on in Vincent Van Gogh mind through out his adult life. From student preacher to the out skirts of society. You will hear his thoughts/feelings/opinions on god, love, mental institutions vs society, painting, his family and more. John Hurt does great justice to Vincent Van Gogh's words, reading the words as if he was Vincent Van Gogh. This has got to be one of the best movies of all time. Even the audio special effects alone make the movie worth it!!!!! Be prepared to see and hear the true great depth of the mind of one of the most brilliant people ever to be born. You will not be disappointed.