Review 503: At Eternity's Gate

At Eternity's Gate is an engrossingly fascinating bio-pic, a brilliantly thoughtful character study and a showcase for a simply outstanding performance from Willem Dafoe.

In the year 1888, Vincent van Gough (Willem Dafoe) spends time in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, France and seeks a new visual langue whilst also struggling to make sense of himself and his connection to those around him, including French post-impressionist artist Paul Gauguin (Oscar Isaac) and a confiding priest (Mads Mikkelsen).

The plot is a wonderfully well rounded look at Vincent van Gough's towards the end of his life.
What co-writer/director Julian Schnabel and his writers bring expertly to the forefront is that van Gough is a complex and troubled soul - someone whose genius wasn't recognised until after he died.
According to Schnabel, the film is told in the first person which helps to give us as an audience the sense that this was happening to us. He puts us into van Gough's shoes
This is very much a film about a painting and a painter and their relationship to infinity - hence the title of the film. It's a film told by a painter: We experience the film from van Gough's point of view

Director Julian Schnabel's direction is superbly sublime, his expert usage of camera pans, close ups, hand held camera work and even one take to showcase van Gough's work is simply astounding and lend itself to an amazing atmosphere. The cinematography is gorgeous and captures the beauty of France in the late 1800s, the production design (recreating France in the late 1800s) is fantastic, the costumes are fabulous, the score by Tatiana Lisovskaya is beautiful, the scenery is beautifully lush, the lighting is marvellous,

It's a marvellous acting triumph: Willem Dafoe delivers a powerhouse performance playing Vincent van Gough.
All of van Gough's inner demons and insecurities, they all read through Dafoe facial expressions

Not lagging far behind Dafoe is Rupert Friend in the role of Theo van Gough, Vincent's brother

Mads Mikkelsen, Mathieu Amalric and Amira Casar round out the films small cast playing a compassionate priest whom van Gough confides his in; Dr. Paul Gachet a physician who treated van Gough during his final weeks at Auvers-sur-Oise and Johanna van Gough-Bonger, Theo van Gough's wife respectively.

5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.