Lust for Life (1956)

(*Favourite movie quote*) - "The pictures come to me as in a dream."The agony of one man's life.... Vincent Van Gogh painted the way other men breathe.After Rembrandt, Van Gogh is considered to be the greatest of all the Dutch painters. His obsession with painting, combined with serious mental illness, propelled him through a life full of failures and unrewarding relationships.Throughout his life, Van Gogh managed to earn some respect from his fellow painters, especially that of Paul Gauguin, but he never, ever got along with any of these men. Surprisingly enough, in his entire lifetime Van Gogh only managed to sell just one of his paintings.Released in 1956 - "Lust For Life" is a really fine movie-production. Many of the locations used for filming were actual places that Van Gogh had visited during his short life. Actor, Kirk Douglas puts in a dynamite performance as the archetypical tortured artist-genius.

Copyright 1956 by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture. New York opening at the Plaza: 17 September 1956. U.S. release: 21 September 1956. U.K. release: 25 August 1957. London opening at the Curzon. Australian release: 7 March 1957. 10,991 feet. 122 minutes.NOTES: Young photographed the European locations, Harlan the Hollywood studio scenes.Academy Award, Anthony Quinn, Best Supporting Actor, defeating Don Murray in "Bus Stop", Anthony Perkins in "Friendly Persuasion", Mickey Rooney in "The Bold and the Brave", Robert Stack in "Written on the Wind". Also nominated for Best Actor, Kirk Douglas, losing to Yul Brynner in "The King and I"; Norman Corwin for Best Adapted Screenplay, losing to "Around the World in 80 Days"; Color Art Direction, losing to "The King and I".Negative cost: around $2.5 million. Initial domestic rentals gross: $1.6 million. Foreign rentals: around $1 million. Initial loss: around $1.2 million.The final film to be photographed in Ansco Color, a process which M- G-M had actively helped to develop.VIEWER'S GUIDE: Not suitable for children, but make them watch it anyway.COMMENT: Based on Irving Stone's superficial and romanticized biographical novel of Vincent Van Gogh, "Lust for Life" was adapted for the screen by (of all people!) radio playwright, Norman Corwin. The result is the one-dimensional characterization and comic caricatures of "The Odyssey of Runyon Jones". A faulty script was then aggravated by handing it over to a sympathetic director — Vincente Minnelli, a specialist in caricature cameos. Minnelli has enjoyed himself hugely; we have his sarcastic observation of the roisterers at the fair, and to cap one of the film's more solemn and dramatic moments, the scatter-brained stupidity of the asylum doctor, hilariously portrayed by Lionel Jeffries.Nonetheless, Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn handle the script better than could be expected, and as might be anticipated from the director of "The Bad and the Beautiful", Minnelli's treatment of the scenes of dementia are quite effective. Miklos Rozsa's evocative score is also to be commended, as is Dore Schary's enterprise in allowing the film to be produced at all — one of the reasons why he got the sack.Visually the film contains some attractively composed French and Dutch exterior scenes and the reproduction of the paintings is often above average, although CinemaScope seems an inconvenient shape for the display of such canvasses (Frederick A. Young and Russell Harlan photographed).For his brief role as Paul Gauguin, Anthony Quinn received the lion's share of the critical acclaim, as well as his second Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor. Kirk Douglas, however, won the New York Film Critics Award as Best Actor for his interpretation of Van Gogh.

"I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process;" "I dream of painting and then I paint my dream;""I wish they would only take me as I am" (Vincent Van Gogh).I have selected the three thoughts of the great artist because they not only seem to resemble the core idea of this 'modern' biopic but also evoke its 'experimental narrative' (Dr Drew Casper)...the narrative so much influenced by Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo, the source of inspiration in the literary source by Irving Stone. There is something that may strike you in these lines: the first being the primordial paradox of artistic conflict between efforts and consequences, the second being an aspiration of true genius' passions, the third being an eternal combat within an individual struggle of 'conformity' vs. 'individuality,' something so memorably penned by Dr Drew Casper. But LUST FOR LIFE, as one of the key movies of post-war cinema, has stood a test of time not merely due to its subject matter but thanks to its director, Vincente Minelli. The art of painting and the art of the screen seem to simultaneously correspond to each other in an intriguing harmony. Van Gogh's genius and Minelli's perfectionism blend. Thanks to that unique collaboration, Dr Drew Casper allows himself to call LUST FOR LIFE "Minelli's labor of love" for very justifiable reasons. The works of both were equally unique and individual.Every artist, in a way, is a unique, individual and an extremely intrinsic personality who explains, explores, expresses and echoes his inner self through his achievements, his works of art. What fascinates us all about these personalities is not something we are all used to but something different, something thought provoking, something that seems to bring us all to the awe of what we perceive beyond our senses. That freedom from the touch of one inner world, taking the author as he/she is and letting oneself be absorbed by the whisper of his/her inspiration. The tremendous contribution of the director and his stuff, including the fine effects of color and de-centering camera-work cannot be ignored; yet, the most interesting aspect in such films is how the protagonist is portrayed; here, by one of the legendary Hollywood figures, Kirk Douglas.Undeniably in one of his life roles, he depicts a man of struggle within various phases of his life. Seen as "agitated but not ambitious, restless and unable to control his passions yet decisive and bold" but the one who "ranges from forlorn sullenness to hysterical rage, from tender nuance to joyous exhilaration" (Carter B. Horsley), a brave performer who 'breaks the heroic idea of character' (Casper), Douglas appears to be an altogether memorable Van Gogh. Throughout the span of 12 years of the artist's life, Douglas depicts changeable moods and heavy torments that can go on their own only for some time. He is most intriguing and passionate at the encounter with other artists or rather an artist he meets among the impressionists and post-impressionists in Paris, that is Paul Gaugin portrayed by another legend, Anthony Quinn.For the first time paired together, the actors are all but pathetic. Vibrant and lively artistic personalities that supply the film with desirable vigor in, as Horsley rightly observes, a 'classic clash of titans of the mind and the heart;' or rather in an 'absinthe-fulled roller-coaster bromance" (Alex Von Tummelmann, the Guardian). Their scenes shine with unforgettable energy, unique tensions and storms raging within as they embody creation agonies. While Van Gogh seems to 'paint too fast' Gaugin appears to 'look too fast;' while Gaugin is direct, vigorous, honest, Van Gogh is a caged soul heavily influenced by his upbringing environment who dreams others to see him as he is and struggling for futile work. While Gaugin cannot stand any mental nor physical confusion, Van Gogh is the 'chaos' incarnate. Although Von Tummelmann labels the Paul Gaugin of Anthony Quinn humorously as 'a male English literature teacher having a mid-life crisis at a girls' school,' the actor delivers something edgy, something powerful after all these years. Luckily, though, they may compete on the screen from time to time, they may force their viewpoints, yet, they manage to remain unique as the performers and the artists. With that in mind, Van Gogh's suffering becomes 'extremely fascinating' (Horsley).As a relief come Van Gogh's relations with his brother Theo (James Donald). Here, there is nothing that highlights their pure passions but rather inner worlds, life taken holistically and its sufferings shared with a brotherly soul. There are lines Van Gogh says to his brother that he would never say to other people.Seemingly, the best thing that LUST FOR LIFE still does when we view it is the adventurous spirit over the conventional, the free over the caged, the dreamlike over the realistic. The magnificent use of Van Gogh's masterpieces within the context of the screen additionally supplies the movie with the surprising relation between the screen and the canvas. There would be far more things to mention about the film if it were not for the word limit that, in a way, forces me to make it all more condensed. Among a number of its merits, the score by great Miklos Rozsa needs a special notice.An important movie to see about an unconventional personality who strives throughout his short life; yet, who, perhaps, loses his mind in the process but who can really paint his dream and bring on canvas the sublime light reflected in beauty of life, in beauty of nature, something that he managed to discover within personal freedom.Isn't such a discovery at hand within all of us? What is left for man if not true passion, true lust for such discovery?

Biopics are tricky things to get right. That is one of the reasons why so many classic Hollywood versions of true stories are so liberal with the facts – storifying history in order to bring out the spirit or the legend of the subject. There have also been more recent productions which, in their devotion to historical accuracy, suck all the life out of the picture. It is a rare thing indeed then to find a biopic that sticks to the truth but also really brings us a vivid character in an engaging story.Lust for Life begins with Vincent's journey in mid-flow, with a brief episode in which he worked as a preacher in a dirty mining town. It is as if we are observing the man from a distance, and indeed director Vincente Minnelli actually keeps his camera well back from the subject for the first fifteen minutes or so. Van Gogh's talent for painting is not referenced verbally, but sketches gradually begin to appear in the background. It's a very tentative introduction to the man, but it gives us his character and background through example rather than direct statement, and rather than highlighting his turning to art shows it as an almost incidental extension of his way of life. Screenwriter Norman Corwin (who normally worked in radio) draws from Vincent's letters to his brother Theo for a gentle and unobtrusive narrative, and the production makes extensive use of actual locations and colour prints of van Gogh's paintings, all the better for his work to speak for itself.Director Vincente Minnelli was himself a painter, albeit one of a rather different style to van Gogh, but his painterly instinct for space and colour helps very much in creating the harmonious look of Lust of Life. He was one of the few directors from this early stage of widescreen who knew what to do with the Cinemascope aspect ratio. His technique is to soften the width by composing in depth. Take set-ups like Mauve's studio or the little flat Vincent shares with Christine, in which the furniture and canvasses create many layers in depth, giving real definition to the space and making the wide shape of the screen seem more natural. Often the screen seems loosely divided into two parts, with foreground business on one side and a distant vanishing point on the other, and Minnelli uses this to create smaller frames for different actors on the screen or to highlight one person or another. This in turn minimises the need for cuts to opposing angles or close-ups, which tend to look awkward in Cinemascope.In the lead role, Kirk Douglas not only bears a passable resemblance to van Gogh, he really immerses himself in the character to the extent that you forget the familiarity of the actor and see only the painter. Vincent may be the archetypal tortured artist but Douglas resists the temptation to become wild or hysterical, more often showing emotional turmoil in tense body language and silent screams. In lighter moments he displays a kind of boyish enthusiasm which really helps to make a likable character out of van Gogh. In contrast Anthony Quinn's supporting role as Paul Gauguin is exaggerated and theatrical where Douglas is subtle and realistic, but it highlights the difference between the two men and helps to make Quinn's short but crucial part in the story lively and memorable.Above I feel what really makes Lust for Life work is that it understands it subject matter. There is a clear respect for van Gogh's work from writer, director and star, and an intention to allow the audience to share in this appreciation. The effort that has gone into comparing real scenes to finished paintings, and the dialogue that touches upon art theory show how his approach to painting dovetails into his highly emotional and philanthropic character. It is this that lends a sense of meaning and poignancy to the depiction of his tragic life.