The Film “Loving Vincent”
A little late to it, but I finally went to see the film “Loving Vincent.”
Perhaps because the newly opened TOHO Cinemas Ueno was drawing crowds right after its launch, the early showings were already sold out. A few seats were still left for the dubbed version, so I managed to grab a ticket at the last minute and catch it. It seems to be a popular film.
A World First!
This film has drawn attention for a world-first attempt: the entire work is composed of moving oil paintings. What’s more, it was made by first shooting the footage in live action and then rendering it in oil paint—an undertaking equivalent to producing two films’ worth of work.
A total of 125 painters were recruited from countries all over the world! And the number of oil paintings created came to a staggering 62,450!! The making-of process was uploaded to YouTube, so I’ll share it here.
It’s a mind-bogglingly painstaking task—a round of applause for all the artists!
A Participant from Japan, Too
And remarkably, there was one artist taking part from our own Japan as well: the painter Yoko Koga.
https://yokokoga.jimdo.com/
Yoko Koga applied on her own and made it through a fiercely competitive selection—a genuinely accomplished artist.
In early April 2016, I filled in the application form, attached images of the oil paintings I had done up to then, and applied. I was then contacted and told to come to Poland to take the selection test. I went to Poland right away, took the selection test starting May 30, sat a second test billed as “training,” and was accepted. I ended up staying on in Poland to paint.
The film’s original title is “Loving Vincent.” Yoko Koga, too, seems to be a painter who loves Van Gogh.
Yoko Koga — Biography
1986 Born in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture
2005-2006 UK — Studied the fundamentals of art across the board, including fine art, design, and printmaking, on the foundation course at The University College for the Creative Arts (now University for the Creative Arts)
2008-2009 Italy — Studied fine art and anatomy at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze (Florence Academy of Fine Arts). Alongside her studies, she worked as a madonnara (street painter)
2010-2013 Italy — Studied oil painting, drawing, anatomy, and composition based on classical Russian techniques at the Russian Academy of Art in Florence (now the Florence Academy of Russian Art)
現在 Based in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, active both in Japan and abroad
What Makes the Film Worth Watching
There are several things to recommend about this film, but above all it has to be “the way the oil paint seems to writhe and crawl across the screen.” It’s a fresh kind of sensation—less like watching a film than like watching oil paintings come to life.
Including the monochrome sections inserted here and there, the colors of Van Gogh’s paintings move freely in every direction, and it is genuinely thrilling.
Come to think of it, because it is based on paintings, the film’s frame (aspect ratio) is close to a canvas-like 4:3. It felt a little like watching an old television set, giving a strange sense of time travel.
The story follows an investigation into the truth behind Van Gogh’s suicide, gathering testimony from those who knew him. The scattered puzzle pieces are eventually assembled into a single truth, arriving at a kind of happy ending.
In Closing
Only one of his paintings sold during his lifetime, out of the 800 works he made over eight years. Van Gogh, who died young, might well have caught fire much sooner had the internet and social media existed. Then again, perhaps his talent blossomed precisely because he could immerse himself in his work in a quiet French country town…
“Van Gogh & Japan,” which was running at the same time, was also a fine exhibition.
https://art-on.jp/gogh-japan-2017/
