Lust for Life (1956)
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
In contrast to the normal Hollywood biopic of 'The Great Artist', in which Art forever takes second place to the Man, Minnelli here offers an account of the developing intensity of Van Gogh's art. Throughout Lust for Life, Van Gogh, brilliantly portrayed by Kirk Douglas as a man forever on a knife-edge, struggles to explain himself to his family and to Anthony Quinn's Gauguin. However, Minnelli, with the colours he chooses - which follow those of the paintings - and with his dramatic counterpointing of events in Van Gogh's life with his canvases, undermines all explanations. Minnelli neither explains Van Gogh's art in terms of his life or vice versa, but celebrates both. (From Irving Stone's novel.Author: PH
Cast & crew
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Producer: John Houseman
Cast: Kirk Douglas full cast
Duration: 122 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.



What do you think?
Post your review now