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Van Gogh

Screening on Film
Directed by Maurice Pialat.
With Jacques Dutronc, Alexandra London, Bernard Le Coq.
France, 1991, 35mm, color, 158 min.
French with English subtitles.

By focusing on the last two months of the artist’s life, director Maurice Pialat, an established painter in his own right, eschews the more sensational aspects of Van Gogh’s biography in favor of a more contemplative portrait of his daily life. Jacques Dutronc portrays Van Gogh not as a mad eccentric but as a serious individual struggling to control his personal demons. Although the production of art is central to the story, the film gives equal attention to the day-to-day interactions of Van Gogh with his brother, his doctor, and his lover. Set in the Northern French village of Auvers-sur-Olise, Pialat’s film works at a leisurely pace to reflect on the incredibly prolific final days of the master painter.

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