Reason to watch “Loving Vincent”
View(s):Claimed as one of the most interesting cinematic projects of the decade, “Loving Vincent” traces the life and mysterious death of Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh while offering a visual experience unlike any other feature film: each frame has been painted by hand in the style of Van Gogh’s painting. If that’s not enough read on for more reason to watch “Loving Vincent”
1. 65,000 reason
Each of the film’s 65,000 frames is an oil painting on 1000 canvases, using the same technique as Van Gogh, created by a team of 125 painters. This makes it the world’s first fully painted animation feature. A select few original oil paintings from the film are now on sale.
2. The new art-house
This film is set to re-define what art-house cinema looks like.In only 94 minutes, the film re-invents Van Gogh’s universe. Van Gogh’s painting were re-created as film sets or using CGI by cinematographers Lukasz Zal (Ida) and Tristan Oliver (Fantastic Mr Fox). The Painting Design Team spent a whole year re-imagining Van Gogh’s painting via the medium of film, with 94 painting featured in a form very close to the original and a further 31 that were featured “substantially or partially”.
3. The cast
“Loving Vincent” was first shot as a live action film with actors, and then hand-painted over frame-by-frame in oils. The cast includes stars such as Saoirse Ronan (Oscan nominee for Brooklyn, Atonement) as Van Gogh’s daughter Marguerite Gachet, Chris O’Dowd (The IT Crowd, Bridesmaids) as postman Joseph Roulin. The film introduces theatre actor Robert Gulaczyk in his first cinema role as Vincen Van Gogh.
4. The Polish female director and writer
There is nothing more refreshing and exciting in the world of cinema than diversity off and on camera. The films femal director and writer- Dorota Kobiela is a graduate from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland. Kobiela was awarded the Minister of Culture scholarship for special achievements in painting and graphics for four consecutive years. She has directed one live action short film, The Hart in Hand (2006) and five animated shorts. For her sixth animated short, Loving Vincent, Dorota aimed to combine her passion for painting and film, and intended to paint the entire film herself. Once she expanded the project into a feature film, the task of writing and directing was such that she had to content herself with directing the 125 painters. ‘Loving Vincent’ is her feature film debut.
5. For the love of Vincent
Asked why she dedicated seven years of her life to this project, Dorota Kobiela has said this film is a labour of love. “My love of Vincent’s work, his letters and my respect for his struggle sustained me through those 7 years,” she said. The film is also a reference to how he often signed off his letters to his brother: “Your loving Vincent”. But for Kobiela the most important reason is the number of people that love and appreciate Van Gogh’s work. “I hope this film will inspire people to find out more about Vincent, read his letters, see his paintings in the flesh,” she said. “I hope I will have, in some small way, helped introduce Vincent to more people. I think he deserved that. I want everyone to be Loving Vincent!”
Courtesy – Northern Star