Where film and art collide, the perfect place to be. At Eternity’s Gate (2018) is a non-traditional biopic that looks at the iconic Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh in his final years on earth. Among the most famous artists in the world and perhaps the most famous within pop culture, Van Gogh, a troubled soul not quite understood and shrouded in the webs of modern day pop culture is brilliantly played by William Dafoe. Bit part biography, bit part re-imagining, this breathless work directed by Julian Schnabel ebbs and flows with a restless Van Gogh who struggles with a world that sees in black and white.
(Source – Film Stills)
The film successfully conveys Van Gogh’s turbulent emotions while maintaining the integrity of the artist and the influence his work has had on this world without leaning on the stereotypical notion of the ‘artist who descended into madness’. The film explores Van Gogh in his final years through the South of France in Ares, his struggles with the harsh confines of society, as well as his relationship with his brother Theo and the famed French artist Paul Gauguin.
The film at times emits a restless sensation through the use of jumpy hand held camera work, awkward/tight camera angles and meticulous acting by Dafoe. This is juxtaposed against breath-taking scenes of the French country side within which Van Gogh immerses himself. Melodic musical backtracks as well vast periods of silence accompany these scenes and helps build this euphoric world of color. The weaving of these polar opposite worlds together into the fabric of the film creates a brutal collision that brilliantly conveys the lived experience of Van Gogh. An experience that is so volatile that it jars Van Gogh’s mental state and engulfs him with emotions of despair. His work so clearly conveys the vivid world of a genius that tragically cannot be seen or heard due to the harsh confines of society. As result, at the age of 37 he fades out of this world and arrives at Eternity’s gate, a gate to a world so frighteningly vivid and colorful that it remains ever eternal and open to those who choose to see it.
"I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process." - Vincent van Gogh
At Eternity’s Gate (2018) – Official Trailer (YouTube)
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