| |
|
 Starry Night
(2000)
Director:
Paul Davids
Stars: David Abbott, Lisa Waltz
Release Company:
Universal
MPAA Rating: PG-13
 |
|
|
The Starry Night, 1889
Canvas Transfer
van Gogh, Vincent
Buy at AllPosters.com
 
|
"Starry, starry night,
Paint your palette blue and grey
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul"
Don McLean’s "Vincent" has been one of my favorite songs ever since he penned it in 1971, and when hearing it I often find my eyes getting a little moist. The speaks of the artist who continually suffers throughout his life, never realizing appreciation or love because he is so misunderstood. Of course later, people come to realize his genius, and his work becomes widely respected and valuable.
McLean couldn't have found a better symbol for his song, as Vincent Van Gogh truly exemplifies the under appreciated artist. Most regard any artist as eccentric at the least and perhaps insane at the extreme, which is where most would categorize Van Gogh. After all, the penniless Post-Impressionist once cut off his earlobe and later committed suicide at the age of 37.
Synopsis
"Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now"
What if Vincent Van Gogh somehow could return to see how people actually appreciated him now? What if he could come back to see that they were making prints of his work and that the paintings that he couldn’t sell during his lifetime were being auctioned for multi-millions? Was he really the crazed eccentric misunderstood genius of popular lore?
That's the interesting premise of Starry Night, a low budget independent film starring Abbott Alexander as Vincent and Lisa Waltz as Vincent's 20th century love interest Kathy, a talented art student. Yes, Vincent has a lady love interest this time. You didn't expect them to bring back his brother Theo or the obnoxious Paul Gaughin did you? That wouldn't add to the film's theme, and the filmmakers certainly don't want modern audiences speculating about Van Gogh's sexuality in this whimsical tale.
Suspend belief for this one, as one of the peasant women from Van Gogh's painting of "The Potato Eaters" concocts a magical potion to return Van Gogh to the land of the living a century after his death. She urges Vincent to drink the special potato soup, and tells him that he will return with the flowers for a 100 days and will realize that his art has grown acceptance.
Ironically, Van Gogh returns during Pasadena's annual tournament of Roses parade where the year’s theme is "Van Gogh's flowers." Vincent is hit by one of the floats and sent to the hospital where he hooks up with one of those cheap TV advertising lawyers (Lou Wagner), who later must defend him.
Legal complications arise, as Vincent goes around "stealing" his masterpieces—how can it be stealing when it's his own art that he never sold to anyone? Van Gogh "vandalizes" one self-portrait by painting in his yellow hat, and decides to set up a trust fund for starving artists with the "stolen" paintings. He also creates twenty new works—his Hollywood collection, including a large painting of Hell's Angels—that meets with some humorous takes by the art critics at a local gallery.
Good, Bad, Worthwhile?
Whether you should check this film out is one mixed bag, as so much will depend on your personal preferences. Starry Night certainly has its pleasures, as I was taken in simply by McLean's opening song accompanied by Van Gogh's works enlarged in all their vibrant glory on the big screen. If the film had continued in this vein, I would highly recommend this film without remorse.
But that's me. I'm a guy who once booked plane tickets to fly to Los Angeles just to see a touring Van Gogh exhibit, and once stood mesmerized in front of "Starry Night" at the MOMA while strains of McLean's song echoed in my head bringing some dampness to my eyes.
Unfortunately, the movie had to start after the artwork.
Some of the acting was so amateurish that I sank into my seat with embarrassment at a few of the scenarios. At least Alexander does look remarkably like Van Gogh, even if his fake Dutch accent sounds more like a Laguna Beach surfer dude illiterately mixed with some bad Irish/French dialect.
The “love story” is completely contrived, little more than a shallow plot device that doesn't lead to any deeper understanding of Van Gogh. It's hard to imagine Van Gogh acting all heroic and beating off a mugger with his art easel just to meet the love of his life, and then it's even more unreal to see him "making his moves" so aggressively on his first visit. It's also really hard to see how Van Gogh would suddenly wake up after moldering in the ground for a century, to become a pleasant chap with totally altruistic motives to make the world a better place for artists.
In essence, Starry Night tries to straddle between being a comedy and a poignant statement about artists—one of those films that cries out for a Robin Williams to make us laugh before the tearjerker scene. They just don't have the budget for big name actors, and they didn't work on the script long enough to make a consistent statement.
Scriptwriter/Director Paul Davids destroys his credibility by making a major factual mistake, and I’m sure Van Gogh scholars can cite others if they view Starry Night. He spends a great deal of time throwing out factual data about Van Gogh’s works, and how much they are worth as if his paintings are a major big business, but he takes a wrong turn when Van Gogh "steals" Starry Night from a private collector in Beverly Hills. Come on! I saw the painting at the MOMA in New York City!
That said, a few moments are fascinating. Perhaps my favorite was seeing the modern Van Gogh treatment being applied to Los Angeles street scenes and the subsequent reaction of the art critics. Another good scene occurs when Van Gogh disagrees with an art professor’s adamant claim that he had never forgiven Paul Gaughin—a riot to see Van Gogh being kicked out of art class for disruptive behavior.
I would have liked to have seen more such moments instead of witnessing the cinematic clubbing of a society that never appreciates the struggling creative artists. Don't expect much insight into Van Gogh’s actual character--he serves merely as a caricature for the film's political agenda and social satire. They also attempt to mix in a spiritual message taken from the Biblical "doubting Thomas" character as far as judging the characters of the people who believe that the real Van Gogh has returned.
Despite the film's shortcomings, Davids obviously loves Van Gogh's work. Each time I was getting ready to dismiss Starry Night, he'd flash another wondrous portrait on the screen and I'd be awe struck for a few minutes again. This is really is a pretty lousy film that must be classified as a guilty pleasure. It isn't nearly as well done as Altman's more factual Vincent and Theo, but it's more fun to watch in its goofy way. The filmmakers even manipulate during the closing credits by bookending their film with Don McLean's "Vincent"—I can't totally slam a film that ends with one of my favorite songs.
This film is a mixed bag. Some Van Gogh fans will like Starry Night and other serious fans will abhore it. Classify me as a tolerant soul with an eccentric sense of humor, who can detest the overall film but enjoy a few moments of it. View at your own risk.
|
|
|
|
