Aren’t all animated films for children? Not at all. The idea that animations are an easy, simple and childish is totally overrated. Animation is a filming technique that uses a drawings or images to create a sequence that gives an illusion of movement.
The word “animation” has its origins on Latin “animationem”, which means the action of giving life. This filmmaking is usually attributed to Charles-Émile Reynaud, who developed a kind of projection of hand-painted pictures in spools in late XIX century. With the development of cinema and, mostly, with the creation of cartoons, like Hanna-Barbera’s and Disney’s films, animation started being associated to children. Although most animated films are completely created with computer animation, Loving Vincent (2017) brings back the old filmmaking, having been originated from real paintings.
Image Source: IMDb
Directed and written by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, the film premiered last year at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. As the title suggests, the animation is a biographical drama about Vincent Van Gogh – or, actually, about the reasons and circumstances of his death. Kobiela and Welchman selected oil painters instead of animators. The team was composed by 125 painters, representing over 20 countries.
The well acclaimed Van Gogh’s paintings were the resources from which they started to tell the painter’s life story. Those were also the storyboard for the film, arranged, reinvented and brought to life by the 125 painters. For the filmmaking sequence of Loving Vincent, approximately 65,000 different frames were painted.
Image Source: IMDb
Before all this hard work, the film began with cast playing against a green screen, which was transformed into Gogh’s paintings. Each frame of this edited film was then painted over in a canvas. This complex process took more than five years to be concluded. The result is an animated version of art pieces, bringing an intensity of colors and brushstrokes known as Gogh’s style. This beautiful film, 95 minutes long, is an overwhelming tour on the work of the post-impressionist artist. It is nominated for Animated Feature Film for the 2018’ Oscar.
The film was based on more than 800 letters written by Van Gogh. Armand Roulin is a young man that travels to the city where Gogh was born to deliver a letter for his brother, Theo. The plot binds facts and historical information of the artist and elements of fiction. Loving Vincent is centered on an investigation about the painter’s suicide attempt, followed by death, in 1890. At the film, the artist only makes his appearance in black and white flashbacks, showing his work, traumatic past and also the strong bond between him and Theo. The story is told from different perspectives of people who lived and known Gogh.
Loving Vincent definitely lives up to its fame and Oscar nomination. Its It is a delighting and brilliant work of art – or cinema.