Lust for Life. 1956. Directed by Vincent Minelli.

(7/15/00)

It is impossible to form any real opinion about this film as it was shown in a print which was completely red. (There were actually a few spots of yellow, but not enough to warrant mention.) It was also difficult to hear and I couldn't get into it.

I suspect that a lush MGM production doesn't seem right for a film about Vincent van Gogh. That might be snobbish or elitist or something of that nature, but I do think that there is something jarring about this misfit, scorned throughout his life, being given the big Hollywood treatment.

I thought Kirk Douglas was mannered in his performance, but that might be because I found watching the film with no color to be irritating.

It was certainly a pleasure to see van Gogh painting his famous canvases. I particularly liked seeing "The Night Cafe" brought to life. And also the postman, Joseph Roulin, whose portrait is one of MoMA's treasures.

I was moved by the first part of the film where van Gogh goes to minister to the miners. He has nothing to say to them, but is willing to live with them and learn how to help them. This is true Christian love, but then his superiors come and claim that he is embarrassing their society by his behavior. Pure hypocrisy.

Anthony Quinn's portrayal of Gauguin was the best thing in the film for me. The scene when he arrives to live with van Gogh is wonderfully played. Van Gogh is dying for the presence of a "kindred spirit." Gauguin is his great hope, but turns out to be a great disappointment.

After the episode with Gauguin the film seems to go downhill. I have a feeling that the filmmakers rushed through the rest of van Gogh's story. The episode with Dr. Gachet was unsatisfying. I don't think that van Gogh's insanity or his seizures were satisfactorily explained.

I am not familiar with van Gogh's biography and I was left wondering what might have happened if he hadn't shot himself and had been able to stick it out for another ten years. I think he would have found more appreciation and more sales as those ten years passed. Would that appreciation have made his life more livable? I don't know.

I really believe that this film would have been a totally different experience if I had been able to see it in full color and with better sound.