Loving Vincent (2017 EIFF 3)

Wow!

This animated film, written and directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman is unlike any film ever made. 115 artists painted 65,000 paintings (one for each frame in the film), based on the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, to make this film about Van Gogh’s life and mysterious death. The art alone is worth making Loving Vincent an absolute must-see on the big screen. But the film offers much more, with a well-structured story about one man’s investigation into how Van Gogh died (supposedly by suicide). 

The investigation is conducted by Armand Roulin (voiced by Douglas Booth) only a year after Van Gogh’s death. Armand’s father (Chris O’Dowd), a friend of Vincent’s, is a postman who has found a letter written by Vincent (Robert Gulaczyk) to his brother Theo. Armand’s job is to deliver the letter to Theo. In seeking to do so, Armand learns a lot about Vincent’s life and discovers there are some serious inconsistencies involving his death. Along the way, Armand speaks with characters from Vincent’s life whom Vincent has painted: Adeline Ravoux (Eleanor Tomlinson), a woman who lives at the hotel where Vincent spent his last months, Marguerite Gachet (Saoirse Ronan), the daughter of Dr. Gachet (Jerome Flynn), Vincent’s doctor and friend, and many more. 

Throughout the investigation, we see scenes from Van Gogh’s paintings (130 of them) which become the backdrop for the story. Some critics found the endless paintings were an idea that gets old after a while, and others thought the investigation was wooden and drags on too long. I found neither to be true for me. The paintings were mesmerizing and awe-inspiring, the story was fascinating and told in a film noir style I enjoyed (helped by having the flashbacks in B&W), Clint Mansell’s score was perfect, and the acting was solid.

It’s true that the Irish accents were somewhat distracting and it was a challenge to keep all the characters in your mind, but Loving Vincent gets ***+ verging on ****. My mug is up.