Movie this is extremely good. But when that becomes Biopic - which in real life had two major characters - Vincent and Theo, and also up to quite some extent (in real life), sister Willemein and of course Gauguin, there are things missing - from actual.
It isn't really failure in the plot, except with Willemein , whose behavior and the parting, to Vincent won't explain their bonding, which remained, though not as strong as with Theo.
Certain modifications weren't called for, e.g. "Kee" made "Kay" or Clasina Maria made Christine - may be to make the names a bit more familiar to the anglicised audience, but they won't take the essence out. Nor will some other changes (e.g. Clasina's children - after moving in, both the children stayed with them, but here the daughter is missing). The first break - reconciliation and then the final one sequence had been avoided. Probably to cut the length, but that was quite necessary, to understand the troubled mind.
What really mattered here was the inability of Douglas to really portray the Psychological disorder of VVG. The movie was a bit too sympathetic to VVG, blaming the circumstances. But the circumstances - even rejection by Kee, were themselves due to the Bipolar Disorder of VVG (in addition with the significant age difference). This particular feature had been missed. That won't be in the letters of course, which had been the base of the movie, but it exist in expert psychologists' analysis.
The movie, broadly brings out the life from his failure in the seminary exam to the very end. But there had been circumstances earlier - which too contributed to the exacerbation of the disorder. Probably could have been put in passing comments. In addition there was a slightly wrong depiction of Gauguin's life, or rather his claim of deprivation/ hardship, of course it was his 'claim' and not out of character, considering his militant mind-set, but there VVG wasn't in a weak ground either - having suffered himself in his sojourns, especially in the mines.
Anyway, the movie is relatively better biographic than most of the ones I had seen, where the Protagonist is placed in far higher pedestal and would have been much better, if Douglas was able to portray the trouble more.
And to end, I sincerely wish some one makes a movie about the real superstars of VVG's life - those who really made what he is now - one of the very top artists ever - their life had been of no less trouble than VVG's and one of them, the main architect, got only some passing shots - Theo at least got his due - and Donald did his job extremely well, far better than anyone else - but the one who gets even more credit than Theo, Johanna remained unsung.
The story of Johanna and Theo won't be any less relevant and gripping than the life of VVG - and Johanna definitely deserved every bit of credit, she never got.
It isn't really failure in the plot, except with Willemein , whose behavior and the parting, to Vincent won't explain their bonding, which remained, though not as strong as with Theo.
Certain modifications weren't called for, e.g. "Kee" made "Kay" or Clasina Maria made Christine - may be to make the names a bit more familiar to the anglicised audience, but they won't take the essence out. Nor will some other changes (e.g. Clasina's children - after moving in, both the children stayed with them, but here the daughter is missing). The first break - reconciliation and then the final one sequence had been avoided. Probably to cut the length, but that was quite necessary, to understand the troubled mind.
What really mattered here was the inability of Douglas to really portray the Psychological disorder of VVG. The movie was a bit too sympathetic to VVG, blaming the circumstances. But the circumstances - even rejection by Kee, were themselves due to the Bipolar Disorder of VVG (in addition with the significant age difference). This particular feature had been missed. That won't be in the letters of course, which had been the base of the movie, but it exist in expert psychologists' analysis.
The movie, broadly brings out the life from his failure in the seminary exam to the very end. But there had been circumstances earlier - which too contributed to the exacerbation of the disorder. Probably could have been put in passing comments. In addition there was a slightly wrong depiction of Gauguin's life, or rather his claim of deprivation/ hardship, of course it was his 'claim' and not out of character, considering his militant mind-set, but there VVG wasn't in a weak ground either - having suffered himself in his sojourns, especially in the mines.
Anyway, the movie is relatively better biographic than most of the ones I had seen, where the Protagonist is placed in far higher pedestal and would have been much better, if Douglas was able to portray the trouble more.
And to end, I sincerely wish some one makes a movie about the real superstars of VVG's life - those who really made what he is now - one of the very top artists ever - their life had been of no less trouble than VVG's and one of them, the main architect, got only some passing shots - Theo at least got his due - and Donald did his job extremely well, far better than anyone else - but the one who gets even more credit than Theo, Johanna remained unsung.
The story of Johanna and Theo won't be any less relevant and gripping than the life of VVG - and Johanna definitely deserved every bit of credit, she never got.