At Eternity's Gate

I'd seen all of the best acting nominees for this year's Oscars except for Willem Dafoe as Vincent Van Gogh in At Eternity's Gate, which was never screened here in the land of multiplexes. The DVD just came out, so I watched it last night.

Dafoe is great, but the movie itself requires a certain kind of mindset. Watching it at home, I was able to stop and start it, because it moves along at a slow crawl. It was directed by Julian Schnabel, himself a painter, so those who appreciate art will find it more intriguing. I like art as much as the next guy, but it tested my patience.

This is not a biopic like Lust for Life, with Kirk Douglas. It is also not a detective story like Vincent, an animated film that came out a few years ago and posited on whether Van Gogh committed suicide or was murdered. This film focuses on his time in Arles to his death, but not so much on the details of his life but how he saw the world, and how it made him crazy. Or perhaps it was because he was crazy that made him see the world the way he did.

Much of the film is following Van Gogh into nature, which he believed was the ultimate in beauty. Then there are several scenes of him discussing what he sees with others, such as Paul Gaugin (Oscar Isaac), or a priest (Mads Mikkelson) at an asylum where he is kept for a time. I think the most interesting line of these dialogues is when he tells Mikkelson, "Maybe I'm painting for people who haven't been born yet." That is certainly true, as he was unknown while alive but now, except perhaps for Picasso, he is the most well known name in modern art. Mikkelson holds a canvas by Van Gogh, incredulous that it could be called art. "It is unpleasant and ugly," he tells Van Gogh. All I could think of was, "Hold on to that! It will be worth millions some day!"

Schnabel clearly was not interested in selling tickets for this film, as instead of showing us Van Gogh cutting off his ear, he explains it to a doctor in a long sequence. Except for having rocks thrown at him by children in Arles there is no action to speak of in the film, just an examination of a man on the edge of sanity, or, as the title suggests, eternity.

Dafoe is way too old to play Van Gogh (the latter died in his thirties) but despite the lines in his face he has the character down pat. Dafoe's large blue eyes contain the amazement that he sees and the sensitivity of his nature. When Gaugin, who has been his roommate, tells him he is going to leave, Van Gogh has something of a breakdown, rushing out into a church graveyard. The film shows his over attachment to his brother Theo (Rupert Friend), who funded him. When Theo visits Vincent in the hospital after he is beaten, they hold each other like lovers.

The script also subscribes to the idea that Van Gogh was murdered, but skips over it so quickly that someone who doesn't know about it will be confused.

The photography by Bruno Delbonnel is up to the challenge, as a movie about Van Gogh has to show us the colors that the painter sees.

At Eternity's Gate would be a great film to show in an art class, but as a movie for modern audiences it's only just okay.