| Lust for Life | |
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Lust for Life DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Vincente Minnelli George Cukor (uncredited - supervised one retake) |
| Produced by | John Houseman |
| Written by | Irving Stone (novel) Norman Corwin |
| Starring | Kirk Douglas Anthony Quinn James Donald |
| Music by | Miklós Rózsa |
| Cinematography | Russell Harlan |
| Editing by | Adrienne Fazan |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | September 17, 1956 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 122 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Lust for Life (1956) is a MGM (Metrocolor) biographical film about the life of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, based on the 1934 novel by Irving Stone and adapted by Norman Corwin.
It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by John Houseman. The film stars Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh, James Donald as his brother Theo, Pamela Brown, Everett Sloane, and Anthony Quinn, who won an Oscar for his performance as Van Gogh's fast friend and rival Paul Gauguin.[1]
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Vincent van Gogh's obsessive devotion to his art engulfs, consumes, and finally destroys him. He fails at a religious career and then as a social activist in a coal mining town, returns home to his father's house where he is rejected by a woman he obsessively loves, takes up with a prostitute who leaves because he is too poor, and discovers painting, which he pursues while agonizing that his vision exceeds his ability to execute. His brother, Theo van Gogh, provides financial and moral support, while Vincent lives off and on with the critical Paul Gauguin. Vincent begins experiencing hallucinations and seizures and voluntarily commits himself to a mental institution. He signs himself out, and with Theo's help, returns to a rural area to paint, where he ultimately shoots himself in despair of ever being able to put what he sees on canvas. [1]
In relation to van Gogh's art in Lust for Life, two hundred enlarged colour photos were used representing Vincent’s completed canvases; these were in addition to copies that were executed by an American art teacher, Robert Parker. In preparation for the film, Kirk Douglas practiced painting crows so he could reasonably imitate van Gogh at work.[2]
The movie won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Anthony Quinn). It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Kirk Douglas), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color (Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters, E. Preston Ames, Edwin B. Willis, F. Keogh Gleason) and Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted (Norman Corwin).[3]
New York Times critic Bosley Crowther praised the film's conception, acting and color scheme, noting the design team "consciously made the flow of color and the interplay of compositions and hues the most forceful devices for conveying a motion picture comprehension of van Gogh."[4] Variety said, "This is a slow-moving picture whose only action is in the dialog itself." [5]
MGM produced a short film Van Gogh: Darkness Into Light, narrated by Dore Schary and showing the European locations used for the filming, to promote Lust for Life. In the film, a 75-year-old woman from Auvers-sur-Oise (not Jeanne Calment, who lived in Arles several hundred km to the south), who claims to have known Van Gogh when she was a young girl, meets star Kirk Douglas, and comments on how much he looks like the painter. This short promotional film is shown on Turner Classic Movies occasionally. At the start and ending of the film, the creators list and thank a number of galleries, collectors, and historians who allowed the works of Van Gogh to be photographed for the film.
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