Willem Dafoe does a bravura acting job. I find joy in sorrow. Review by wsabcha Pro. As an artist I’ve always been influenced by Vincent van Gogh, though my work doesn’t look like his. Luckily for Schnabel, Dafoe is more than up to the challenge. Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2019. Some of it seems controversial. Art historians can debate that more accurately than myself, but it’s an underlying theme of Schnabel’s take on a man too often reduced to the story of his ear. Schnabel has form for directing biopics about artists, having made his directorial debut back with Basquiat, and as he did with Jeffrey Wright in 1996, in At Eternity’s Gate he benefits from having a perfectly-cast leading man. The best scenes in the film are the ones in which we see Vincent Van Gogh staring out a landscape or up at an unforgiving sky, asking questions about why he’s so different and then using that difference to create beautiful art. I ordered it to be delivered as soon as released and I did love it. Film Review: Willem Dafoe in ‘At Eternity’s Gate’ Willem Dafoe has his greatest role since Jesus Christ in Julian Schnabel's luminous present-tense drama about the last days of Vincent van Gogh. So we know the actors are real live imperfect beings? by Willem Dafoe. At Eternity's Gate was shot digitally on RED Helium 8K equipment and the 1080p transfer (shown in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio) was taken from a 4K digital intermediate. The film dramatizes the controversial theory put forward by Van Gogh biographers Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, in which they speculate that Van Gogh's … Is this what we want from movies today? Summaries. We really like it. At Eternity's Gate is a 2018 biographical drama film about the final years of painter Vincent van Gogh's life. His cuts, angles, and close ups get in the way of the story. Willem Dafoe was outstanding. Review: Herself Stubbornly Leans into Its Metaphor for Personal Restoration. At Eternity’s Gate walks a fine line between overdone collection of cliches and affecting tribute but thanks to Willem Dafoe’s performance it leans more to the latter Kevin Maher. “At Eternity’s Gate” is not a straight adaptation from what is known about Vincent van Gogh’s life, instead it is an amalgamation of van Gogh’s correspondence, historical fact and the interpretation by Julien Schnabel of van Gogh’s art that attempts to capture the essence of van Gogh’s creative spirit. But Dafoe is excellent here - brilliantly cast and should easily win Best Actor if there's any justice at all left in Hollywood. Concern over simplistic details like inconsistent accents and the fact that Dafoe is a quarter-century older than Van Gogh was when he died don’t really find a home in “At Eternity’s Gate.” This is not that kind of movie. Modern film makers try the most hideous techniques to be "different and daring". At Eternity’s Gate is not a standard biopic — we’ve had a few of those already, including Lust for Life and Vincent and Theo. Review: At Eternity’s Gate. Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2019. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association. EXQUISITE, ELEGANT, EMOTIONAL, AUTHENTIC, AND CAPTIVATING This tells the story of Van Gogh's final years. Similar to the recently discovered proof that Vincent did indeed cut off his entire left ear save for part of the lobe, the mountain of circumstantial evidence (and some hard evidence) pointing at Van Gogh's teenaged tormenter, René Secrétan, aka "Puffalo Pill," as shooting the fatal bullet, accidentally or not, will probably take decades to be acknowledged by the masses. Review: Shadow in the Cloud Serves Up a Maximalist Blast of the Absurd. It was like the camera man followed the actors around and filmed them with a cell phone. At Eternity’s Gate is a co-production between the United States, France and the United November 20, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. UTC Julian Schnabel’s fascinating and at times frustrating new drama about Vincent van Gogh, “At Eternity’s Gate,” exists, as … “At Eternity’s Gate” is a smaller, less flamboyant achievement, but it’s quite something. There's a lot of this going around if you will notice in television commercials. The result is an appealingly sad, lost character without any of the showiness that might come in a typical biopic. Critics Pick Film Review: Willem Dafoe in ‘At Eternity’s Gate’ Willem Dafoe has his greatest role since Jesus Christ in Julian Schnabel's luminous present-tense drama about the … What a sad life to have mental illness, but he did some great art painting. Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2019. Posted by Alistair Ryder Published . Dafoe doesn’t really need those crutches. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20181116-film-review-at-eternitys-gate Great story of how life must have been in those days. How are ratings calculated? Far less concerned with traditional biopic beats that seek to hit the high points of a famous life, the director of “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” delivers a film more interested in philosophy and process than product. I checked this film out of the library after reading a Christian novel that spoke about the art of Vincent Van Gogh (Shades of Light by Sharon Garlough Brown–Book Review). 5 star 76% 4 star 12% 3 star 5% 2 star 4% 1 star 3% At Eternity's Gate. Even just this year, I've seen … And it did bring out some elements in the book not usually associated with Van Gogh biopics. Online reviewers have written 156 reviews, giving At Eternity's Gate (2018) an average rating of 68%. Parents say . This page works best with JavaScript. Kids say . Still, if you can just consider it is your brother's kid directing then it grows on you. At Eternity’s Gate is a film made by an artist (“plates painter” Schnabel) less concerned with a painter, more with the way a painter saw the world. At Eternity's Gate carefully avoids showing very many of Van Gogh's rages, instead focusing on the aftermath and his feelings and fears around his acts. It’s an impressionistic film, concerned more with the atmosphere around genius than explaining it away. In life Van Gogh was lucid enough to produce pictures of genius. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. ... Laura's Review: B. Review: At Eternity’s Gate (2018) Analysis: The Insider (1999) – First 10 Pages; Review: Dark Waters (2019) Article: Researching the Fact-based Film – Part Four: Historical Research (Pt 1) Review: The Most Hated Woman in America (2017) Analysis: Overcoming Narrative Challenges – The Social Network (2010) Review: The Laundromat (2019) Add your rating. A very underrated movie, but also one of my favorites. At Eternity’s Gate review: Willem Dafoe’s overdone van Gogh biopic is as mad as the man himself 2. I'll just start by saying At Eternity's Gate is not a movie that will work … Review: The Reason I Jump Empathetically Challenges Our Views of Autism. “At Eternity’s Gate” is not a straight adaptation from what is known about Vincent van Gogh’s life, instead it is an amalgamation of van Gogh’s correspondence, historical fact and the interpretation by Julien Schnabel of van Gogh’s art that attempts to capture the essence of van Gogh’s creative spirit. Save Willem Dafoe plays Vincent van Gogh in At Eternity's Gate Credit: Film Stills Honestly you feel really bad for the man. Overall, film critics prefer the movie, giving it an average score of 74%, compared to cinema-goers, who gave it a lower average score of 60%. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. “At Eternity’s Gate” takes its name from a canvas of an old man, made in the final months of van Gogh’s life, that thrums with a foreboding of the subject’s mortality. The story tries to point out some of the newer ideas about Van Gogh and his relationship with his brother and Gauguin. Willem Dafoe plays the world-famous Dutch artist in Julian Schnabel’s artistic masterpiece. One of those movies that while you watch it you think it's pretty good, not great, but then it grows on you the more you think about it (over the course of the following days). Thursday March 28 2019, 5.00pm, The Times. What frustrated him in his relations with people? Review: At Eternity’s Gate offers a look at the final years of Vincent van Gogh, much of which was spent in the southern France countryside. Uniquely personal yet undisciplined as a portrait of Vincent van Gogh’s final years, ‘At Eternity’s Gate’ benefits from staying close to its subject, almost inv At Eternity's Gate. At Eternity's Gate Trailer I've taken a few shots at the biopic genre as of late, especially the most recent brand, the "standing ovation" biopic that has become one of the most successful non-superhero formulas in the move-making industry. What drove him to madness? Their first meeting here takes place in an asylum, where Vincent lies in bed. At Eternity's Gate Review. Schnabel ‘s beautifully-shot film is presented from the viewpoint of the artist, and makes a perfect companion to the earlier animated film LOVING VINCENT,which told the artist’s story told from the viewpoint of someone trying to […] At Eternity’s Gate review: A breathless, reverential portrait of Vincent van Gogh’s final years. Led by mesmerizing work from Willem Dafoe in the central role, At Eternity's Gate intriguingly imagines Vincent Van Gogh's troubled final days. Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2019. Common Sense says . He was obsessive about Gauguin. Schnabel’s camera is seemingly inches away from the chins of performers like Isaac and Dafoe, the lines in their faces becoming a sort of art in their own way. But Theo is unreserved in his love for his big brother. At Eternity's Gate was released in 2018 and has generally received positive reviews. I agree with another reviewer that this film was painful to watch. So, how does the movie do in portraying the artist life? age 12+ Based on 1 review. The director tries to get a glimpse into the mind of the genius and perfectly illustrates his inner turmoil, as well as the profound philosophies which inspired him. A look at the life of painter Vincent van Gogh during the time he lived in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, France.. During a self-imposed exile in Arles and Auvers-Sur-Oise, France, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh develops his unique, colorful style of painting. AT ETERNITY'S GATE is by no stretch meant to be a pure biography of Van Gogh. One word people used over and over again while describing Van Gogh was passion. The film becomes "ho hum" rather quickly. Disabling it will result in some disabled or missing features. At Eternity’s Gate is both a fitting tribute to an artist who rebuffed conventional painting techniques, and a disappointingly self-indulgent exercise. Worst of all, when a person was in the frame, the image was so close you could see every pore and mole. Review: At Eternity’s Gate - Slant Magazine Film But the camera work was atrocious! Review by Ico2001 ★★★★★ Julian Schnabel creates a moving painting while at the same time reflecting the psyche of the main character. God bless him always and may he forever shine bright. The acting was great, the story was interesting. At Eternity's Gate 2018 ★★★★★ Rewatched Mar 02, 2021. wsabcha’s review published on Letterboxd: There's a lot of destruction and failure at the door of a successful picture. captsimonwalker says: I loved the film and thought the distorted images reflected his attempts to get viewers to see the world and nature as he saw it. You get no sense of the real Van Gogh in this film. 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