Who is just captivating, and the intensity and pathos he brings to van Gogh is truly powerful in a tear-jerking way.
The acting is near-uniformly great, while Rupert Friend, Mads Mikkelsen and Emmanuelle Seigner give very nuanced performances with their expressions and eyes speaking volumes and louder than their still strong line delivery the film belongs to Dafoe. Found the story to be generally very affecting and the latter parts especially moving and avoids being too speculative. Some of the writing is thoughtful and poignant 'At Eternity's Gate' is not an easy or happy watch narratively, but as van Gogh's life or at his later years were as long away from happy as one can get that was not a problem at all. Didn't have an issue with the music score, subtlety was not an issue in placement at times but it did strike an emotional chord and matched the film's mournful tone. The landscapes are the very meaning of picturesque. Also matching van Gogh's increasing and rapidly deteriating mental state ideally.
Although some of the editing is dizzying and a bit unfocused, the photography is striking and captures the beauty of art and nature beautifully. Personally did not have anywhere near as big a problem. A lot of criticism has been directed towards the photography and music. That it was not your usual or conventional biopic was interesting in itself and was appreciated, makes it stand out. Part of me was also a little disappointed, felt that it could have been better and its shortcomings could have been easily avoided. A big part of me really admired 'At Eternity's Gate' and found a big amount to like and even love about it. Some may find it easier to rate and review, whether love or hate, but the film left me pondering over it for a long time. 'At Eternity's Gate', when finally watching it, is a bit of a tricky one for me. So there were plenty of reasons as to why 'At Eternity's Gate' had big potential to be great. Willem Dafoe has also been great, fantastic even, in other things. Vincent van Gogh's paintings are a thing of beauty and van Gogh was a very fascinating man and one of history's most influential artists. Biopics don't always have great reputations, but to me despite many playing loose with the facts and quite a lot not exploring their subjects enough or being too conventional many have a lot to recommend on their own merits as films.
0 kommentar(er)
