Wow! Such a good movie.

Truly Dreadful Film

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I realize this is a famous movie, so if you're a Kirk Douglas fan, you're going to end up watching it, but I just didn't like it. For starters, it's a Vincent van Gogh biopic, and I'm not particularly interested in his life. After I watched the movie, I found myself even less interested in his life.Yes, we all know his paintings, but Vincent van Gogh was far from a model citizen. He was moody, mentally ill, mean, and obsessive. Why does treating women badly, yelling at your friends, and caring about nothing but your art mean that Vincente Minnelli should direct a film about your life? I didn't see the point, and even though the fantastic actors Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn played van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, respectively, the movie is far from interesting.If van Gogh is your favorite artist, yes, you'll want to see this one. But for those of you just looking for a good Kirk performance, rent The Bad and the Beautiful. Anthony Quinn won an Oscar for Lust for Life, but if you're a fan on the lookout for a great performance, he's much better as an emotionally tortured husband in Hot Spell.

the films of our childhood have a special aura. each is great ignoring the artistic virtues. because they are part from us. from memories, emotions, representations, dreams. in this case , for me, all has the virtues of magic. the great performance of Kirk Douglas. the impressive work of Anthony Quin. the admirable way to translate on screen the book of few generation of Vicente Minelli. sure, it is a slice from a period. sure, it is far to be example of biographic accuracy. but it gives a realistic, sensitive, maybe useful portrait of a great artist. or, maybe, revolutionary. and this is its huge virtue. to discover on the screen models and the air of XIX century. to meet names and characters. to be pushed to discover the real van Gogh. and to be front to a magnificent Gauguin. so, an admirable film. for its artistic virtues. but, maybe, first, for its status of film of my childhood.

"I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process;" "I dream of painting and then I paint my dream;""I wish they would only take me as I am" (Vincent Van Gogh).I have selected the three thoughts of the great artist because they not only seem to resemble the core idea of this 'modern' biopic but also evoke its 'experimental narrative' (Dr Drew Casper)...the narrative so much influenced by Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo, the source of inspiration in the literary source by Irving Stone. There is something that may strike you in these lines: the first being the primordial paradox of artistic conflict between efforts and consequences, the second being an aspiration of true genius' passions, the third being an eternal combat within an individual struggle of 'conformity' vs. 'individuality,' something so memorably penned by Dr Drew Casper. But LUST FOR LIFE, as one of the key movies of post-war cinema, has stood a test of time not merely due to its subject matter but thanks to its director, Vincente Minelli. The art of painting and the art of the screen seem to simultaneously correspond to each other in an intriguing harmony. Van Gogh's genius and Minelli's perfectionism blend. Thanks to that unique collaboration, Dr Drew Casper allows himself to call LUST FOR LIFE "Minelli's labor of love" for very justifiable reasons. The works of both were equally unique and individual.Every artist, in a way, is a unique, individual and an extremely intrinsic personality who explains, explores, expresses and echoes his inner self through his achievements, his works of art. What fascinates us all about these personalities is not something we are all used to but something different, something thought provoking, something that seems to bring us all to the awe of what we perceive beyond our senses. That freedom from the touch of one inner world, taking the author as he/she is and letting oneself be absorbed by the whisper of his/her inspiration. The tremendous contribution of the director and his stuff, including the fine effects of color and de-centering camera-work cannot be ignored; yet, the most interesting aspect in such films is how the protagonist is portrayed; here, by one of the legendary Hollywood figures, Kirk Douglas.Undeniably in one of his life roles, he depicts a man of struggle within various phases of his life. Seen as "agitated but not ambitious, restless and unable to control his passions yet decisive and bold" but the one who "ranges from forlorn sullenness to hysterical rage, from tender nuance to joyous exhilaration" (Carter B. Horsley), a brave performer who 'breaks the heroic idea of character' (Casper), Douglas appears to be an altogether memorable Van Gogh. Throughout the span of 12 years of the artist's life, Douglas depicts changeable moods and heavy torments that can go on their own only for some time. He is most intriguing and passionate at the encounter with other artists or rather an artist he meets among the impressionists and post-impressionists in Paris, that is Paul Gaugin portrayed by another legend, Anthony Quinn.For the first time paired together, the actors are all but pathetic. Vibrant and lively artistic personalities that supply the film with desirable vigor in, as Horsley rightly observes, a 'classic clash of titans of the mind and the heart;' or rather in an 'absinthe-fulled roller-coaster bromance" (Alex Von Tummelmann, the Guardian). Their scenes shine with unforgettable energy, unique tensions and storms raging within as they embody creation agonies. While Van Gogh seems to 'paint too fast' Gaugin appears to 'look too fast;' while Gaugin is direct, vigorous, honest, Van Gogh is a caged soul heavily influenced by his upbringing environment who dreams others to see him as he is and struggling for futile work. While Gaugin cannot stand any mental nor physical confusion, Van Gogh is the 'chaos' incarnate. Although Von Tummelmann labels the Paul Gaugin of Anthony Quinn humorously as 'a male English literature teacher having a mid-life crisis at a girls' school,' the actor delivers something edgy, something powerful after all these years. Luckily, though, they may compete on the screen from time to time, they may force their viewpoints, yet, they manage to remain unique as the performers and the artists. With that in mind, Van Gogh's suffering becomes 'extremely fascinating' (Horsley).As a relief come Van Gogh's relations with his brother Theo (James Donald). Here, there is nothing that highlights their pure passions but rather inner worlds, life taken holistically and its sufferings shared with a brotherly soul. There are lines Van Gogh says to his brother that he would never say to other people.Seemingly, the best thing that LUST FOR LIFE still does when we view it is the adventurous spirit over the conventional, the free over the caged, the dreamlike over the realistic. The magnificent use of Van Gogh's masterpieces within the context of the screen additionally supplies the movie with the surprising relation between the screen and the canvas. There would be far more things to mention about the film if it were not for the word limit that, in a way, forces me to make it all more condensed. Among a number of its merits, the score by great Miklos Rozsa needs a special notice.An important movie to see about an unconventional personality who strives throughout his short life; yet, who, perhaps, loses his mind in the process but who can really paint his dream and bring on canvas the sublime light reflected in beauty of life, in beauty of nature, something that he managed to discover within personal freedom.Isn't such a discovery at hand within all of us? What is left for man if not true passion, true lust for such discovery?

The life of Van Gogh in glamorous Metro-color. The film is quite simply magnificent. Everything is fantastic , from the performances to the cinematography. Kirk Douglas' performance is what carries the film , his charisma and brilliant use of physical acting help convey the conflicting and tormenting emotions and desires felt by Van Gogh. The colour scheme for the film is very clever since it almost parallels the colours and shades in Van Gogh's paintings. The rest of the cast produce great acting that matches the dramatic tones and beauty of the film. A classic from Hollywood and one of the most beautiful and thought provoking films ever made.