2018 Oscars Challenge: [25] “Loving Vincent” – Best Animated Feature

“LOVING VINCENT”
Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and Ivan Mactaggart

Director: Dorota Kobiela & Hugh Welchman
Producer: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, and Sean M. Bobbitt
Writers: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, and Jacek Dehnel
Editors: Dorota Kobiela and Justyna Wierszynska
Composer: Clint Mansell
Production Company: BreakThru Productions & Trademark Films
Release Date: September 22, 2017
Run-time: 94 minutes

FILM SYNOPSIS: In the summer of 1891, Armand Roulin is given a letter by his postman father to deliver to Theo, the brother of recently deceased artist Vincent van Gogh. Upon learning that Theo is also dead, Armand travels to the village where the troubled artist lived his final weeks in an effort to understand both his life and death.

During my viewing of “Loving Vincent,” I was often taken aback by the quality of the paintings and the sheer effort that went into the first ever hand painted feature length film. Done in the style of Vincent van Gogh’s painting, the film tells the story of a postman’s son, Theo, trying to deliver van Gogh’s final letter, a year after his death. The letter is originally posted for his brother, but upon finding out his brother has also died, he sets out to find who the best recipient of the letter should be. Living in the small town that van Gogh had resided around the time of his death, Theo questions the locals and is lead down a rabbit hole of information, suddenly finding that he may not have committed suicide after all.

Originally the film was conceived as a 7 minute short. “Each of the film’s 65,000 frames is an oil painting on canvas, using the same technique as Van Gogh, created by a team of 125 painters” from all around the world. “The filmmakers chose classically trained painters over traditional animators.” Real actors like Saoirse Ronan, Douglas Booth, and Chris O’Dowd were filmed on green screens and then van Gogh’s paintings where comped behind them. After that, they shot each individual frame of footage onto a blank canvas for the artists to paint over. “The entire process, from the actual filming to completion of the paintings, took four years to finish.”

The great part about the whole film is that there is no way a major studio would invest in such a long processed film. “Loving Vincent” was instead funded partially by Kickstarter and partially by the Polish Film Institute. I can easily say it is unlike any film I have ever seen. The talent that went into this film is immense. However, in a year where “Coco” has literally swept the animation awards, with Pixar being a juggernaut when they get it right, “Loving Vincent” doesn’t stand a chance. “Coco” may be the animation style that we’ve grown to know and love in today’s age, “Loving Vincent” looks like a look back at history. On top of that, the story of “Loving Vincent” definitely leaves much to be desired while “Coco” knocks its storytelling out of the park. In the end, if there’s one sure bet at the Oscars this year, it is that “Coco” is going home with the gold.

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