SY, Reinna Madel R.

3POL2 December 1, 2017

A Critique to Loving Vincent: Unfolding Vincent’s Paintings
In a time when almost all movies are filmed with the inclusion of special effects such as optical
effects and Computer-generated imagery or CGI that were famous for presenting science fiction films,
Loving Vincent took us back in the 19th century to present what influenced Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings,
his life and his death. This film is the first fully painted animated feature film according to BBC. Painting
and film is of different art form from each other. Painting is done in a flat canvass and has movement
while film shows mobility. However, combining both arts is rather unrealistic and almost seems
impossible to be accomplished. One would think that using a team of animators would the film’s
production a lot easier however, the director’s decision to choose traditional oil painters not only made
the film look more similar Van Gogh’s painting but also have given the deserved respect for the Father
of modern painting’s art. The film’s production teamed up with 125 oil painting artists to paint the
film’s 65, 000 frames. The cast, who were dressed and styled to look similar with the characters in the
paintings of Van Gogh, whose footage were shot to be painting in canvases to produce the 65, 000
frames. The settings of the film are specially constructed to look similar to the paintings. Real live
materials are also included in the film’s production such as horses, clouds, birds and leaves. These are
used as reference materials by the painting artists to depict the movements to make shots for the
paintings’ frames. The reference materials are painted in similar painting style of Van Gogh. Each
brushstroke of the artists are shot to make each frame of the film.
Directors of such a complicated film must have both the talent and experience in the two different
mediums of art. In this film, Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman worked side by side as writers and
directors of the film. Dorota Kobiela is a graduate of Fine Arts and has achieved several awards in
panting and graphics. She then discovered animation and film through a friend and developed her skills
through attending the Warsaw Film School. Although Hugh Welchman has no solid background in the
art of paintings, his talent in Filmmaking and writing have benefitted much the film. Kobiela’s idea of
bringing to life of Van Gogh’s painting with the use of oil paintings was supported by Welchman. And
through Welchman’s Breakthru Films, the world’s first completely painted animated feature film has
come to life. Among the cast of the shows are Robert Gulaczyk who portrayed as Vincent van Gogh;
Douglas Booth as Armand Roulin, the main actor of the film; Jerome Flynn as Dr Paul Gachet, the doctor
who helped Van Gogh; Saoirse Ronan as Marguerite Gachet, daughter of Dr. Gachet; Helen McCrory as
Louise Chevalier, the housekeeper of Dr. Garchet; Chris O'Dowd as Postman Roulin a friend of Van Gogh
and father of Armand Roulin; John Sessions as Père Tanguy, the art dealer and sells Van Gogh’s
paintings; Eleanor Tomlinson as Adeline Ravoux, the daughter of the innkeeper who provided lodgings
for Van Gogh; Aidan Turner as Boatman; Joe Stuckey as the town’s idiot boy; and so on.
The story of the film is about the unveiling of what had happened to Vincent Van Gogh’s life one
year after his death when the MasterPostman Roulin sent his son, Armand to deliver the posthumous
letter of Van Gogh to his brother Theo. As Theo travel to give the letter, he learned from Père Tanguy
that Theo died shortly after his brother died. Armand then search for the next rightful person to receive
the last letter of Vincent van Gogh. Although the frames in the movie are not the same with Vincent van
Gogh’s actual paintings, one can see that the. Van Gogh’s unique brushstrokes technique and the style
of using of bold amount of paint or impasto was appropriately applied to make the film much befitting
of retelling the story of the famous painter. Van Gogh was also known for using vibrant colors in his
paintings but some scenes in the film are in black and white painting. These paintings or scenes in the
film have no relation with Van Gogh’s paintings but were added to portray the flashbacks of the people
that Armand interviewed in his search to know what events happened and what triggered his attempt
suicide that led to his death. The credits of the film are also worth to watch as they tell what happened
to the people in van Gogh’s paintings. In total, this movie opens the eyes of the viewers that each
painting has a story to tell and voice that needs to be heard.