Cinema · biography · painting
The best films about Van Gogh: from Pialat to Loving Vincent
No film contains everything Van Gogh. Pialat films the ordinary man, Minnelli constructs the great myth in Technicolor, Altman observes the two brothers, Schnabel seeks inner sensation and Loving Vincent animates the paintings. Here's what to look at, in what order and with what historical reservations.
Direct response
The best Van Gogh movie depends on what you're looking for
For a single recommendation, choose Van Gogh by Maurice Pialat. It is the least decorative portrait, the least eager to explain the genius and probably the richest on the daily presence of the painter. Jacques Dutronc does not imitate an icon: he brings into existence a tired, ironic, sometimes opaque man, surrounded by people who continue to live even when he is not painting.
To discover Van Gogh with the family or immediately enter his visual universe, Loving Vincent is more accessible. His posthumous investigation draws the viewer from one painted character to another and makes the circulation between portraits, landscapes and places perceptible. Its plastic prowess is indisputable, but its plot should not be taken as a historical demonstration.
The other films are not duplicates. The Passionate Life of Vincent van Gogh shows the power of great classic cinema; Vincent & Theo places creation in a fraternal and economic relationship; At Eternity's Gate favors the painter's bodily perception; Painted with Words back to letters. The best course is therefore to see two or three that contradict each other.
Quick choice
What movie to watch tonight?
This ranking favors the quality of the look rather than a supposed absolute fidelity. Even the most documented film selects, simplifies and organizes.
Van Gogh
Pialat refuses the school biography and observes the last months in Auvers as a present without legend.
For: auteur cinema, acting, slow durationLoving Vincent
An animated investigation that crosses the faces and places painted by Van Gogh.
For: animation, adolescents, visual discoveryLust for Life
Minnelli, Kirk Douglas and the power of Hollywood color in the service of a total narrative.
For: melodrama, Technicolor, classic biopicVincent & Theo
Altman puts emotional, material and professional dependence at the center of the story.
For: Theo, art market, brotherly relationshipAt Eternity's Gate
Unstable camera, walking, wind and gestures bring the viewer closer to the act of painting.
For: sensation, spirituality, Willem DafoePainted with Words
A docudrama which constructs the portrait from correspondence, without hiding its device.
For: history, text, Benedict Cumberbatch
Van Gogh by Maurice Pialat: the man before the monument
The film focuses on Vincent's last months in Auvers-sur-Oise. However, it does not function as a countdown to death. Meals, travel, moments with Doctor Gachet and his daughter Marguerite, the presence of Theo and Jo, dances and silences occupy as much space as painting. This equality between the artist and his entourage takes away from Van Gogh the artificial privilege that biopics often give him.
Jacques Dutronc plays against the image of the exalted painter. His Vincent may seem distant, clumsy, funny or simply absent. The work exists, but Pialat avoids the obligatory scene where a famous painting would be born before our eyes at the end of a revelation. The painter is not constantly great; he eats, waits, desires, hurts and allows himself to be observed. This restraint makes the rare tensions stronger.
The film is long and deliberately elliptical. Depending on the versions and files, the duration indicated varies: Cannes references a version of 185 minutes, while current editions are around 158 to 160 minutes. This slowness is a method. It forces the viewer to live in Auvers instead of consuming the stages of a life.
Reserve: the film is not an educational introduction. It assumes that one accepts unexplained areas and secondary characters. This is precisely what makes it a great film rather than an illustrated summary.
Loving Vincent : when the tables start to move
The principle is immediately readable: Armand Roulin must submit a letter from Vincent after the painter's death. His research led him to Father Tanguy, Doctor Gachet, Marguerite Gachet, Adeline Ravoux and other figures known from the paintings. The story thus transforms the portrait gallery into a network of witnesses.
The production first shot the actors, then repainted the images in oil, shot after shot. The official website lists more than 65,000 painted images and 125 painter-animators. The movement does not exactly reproduce Van Gogh's touch: he adapts different works, changes their proportions, invents connections and often distinguishes the colorful present from black and white flashbacks.
This method makes us understand something that isolated reproductions poorly show: Van Gogh's motifs belong to the same visual world. A portrait can lead to a street, a room to a countryside, a sky to a memory. The film is therefore excellent for making you want to identify the original works afterwards.
Historical reserve: the plot investigates the hypothesis of an accidental or third-party shot. The film does not prove this theory. We must distinguish its suspense, effective in cinema, from the uncertain state of research into the death of Van Gogh.
The Passionate Life of Vincent van Gogh : Kirk Douglas paints with his whole body
Known in English under the title Lust for Life, the film adapts the biographical novel by Irving Stone. It covers a large part of Vincent's life: the religious vocation, the Dutch years, Paris, Arles, Gauguin, the hospital and Auvers. This vast architecture makes it the best choice for those who want a continuous story, clearly organized and carried by stars.
Kirk Douglas bears a striking resemblance to several self-portraits and plays creative energy as a physical push. His interpretation is intense, sometimes deliberately excessive. Anthony Quinn, in the role of Gauguin, brings a compact and contradictory presence which earned him the Oscar for supporting role. The scenes of confrontation between the two painters have lastingly shaped the popular imagination.
Minnelli is a master of color. The CinemaScope, the landscapes filmed in Europe and the reproductions of works make up less of a copy of Van Gogh's gaze than a Hollywood equivalent of his intensity. The film knows how to circulate yellows, blues and greens on the scale of a big screen.
Reserve: the story reinforces the romantic figure of the cursed artist, solitary and consumed by his genius. This is a magnificent film about the Van Gogh myth, not a biography to use alone.
Vincent & Theo : create, sell and depend on your brother
Robert Altman does not film a genius alone facing the world. He films two lives linked by money, letters, ambition, guilt and affection. Tim Roth gives Vincent unpredictable nervousness; Paul Rhys shows a Theo less smooth than the devoted brother of the summaries. The merchant must defend modern art, spare his employer, build his life with Jo and continue to support a production that is difficult to sell.
The film begins by comparing the astronomical value attributed to the works after Vincent's death and their lack of market during his lifetime. This contrast immediately places the economic question at the heart of the story. Money does not lower painting: it reminds us that we must buy colors, pay rent, ship paintings and obtain time to work.
Altman retains his taste for ensembles, overflowing conversations and characters observed without a simple verdict. Fraternity becomes a dramatic structure: Vincent is materially dependent on Theo, but Theo also gives meaning to his career by believing in the works his brother sends him.
Reserve: some scenes accentuate conflicts and suffering. To complete the film, it is useful to read the letters, where intellectual exchange, artistic strategy and practical details appear with a precision that cinema cannot always maintain.
At Eternity's Gate : seeing the world to the rhythm of Willem Dafoe
Julian Schnabel, himself a painter, favors the physical relationship with the motif. The camera follows the steps, wavers, approaches the hands, lets itself be blinded by a sun or disturbed by a colored band. The viewer not only observes Van Gogh painting: he shares an unstable perception of terrain, material and duration.
Willem Dafoe plays a man older than Vincent was, but that difference quickly ceases to be the center of attention. His hollow face, calm and sudden intensities build an artist who seeks less fame than a form of spiritual harmony with nature. Dafoe received the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival and was later nominated for an Oscar.
The film is particularly strong when it shows repetition: walking, choosing a point of view, planting the easel, struggling with the wind, starting again. Painting once again becomes an activity and not a series of already famous masterpieces.
Historical reserve: as Loving Vincent, the film adopts an alternative hypothesis regarding the fatal injury. Schnabel claims the freedom of an artist's vision. We must therefore receive the film as a meditation, not as a judicial reconstruction.
Van Gogh: Painted with Words : the best historical complement
This British production makes a simple and fruitful decision: to construct the text from the correspondence. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Vincent, but the documentary system remains visible. The film does not claim to surprise the painter in private dialogues reconstructed as if they were certain; he makes people hear what Vincent really chose to write.
Letters do not deliver a pure and immediate truth. They are addressed to someone, most often Theo, and change tone depending on the period. They nevertheless remain the best source for understanding Vincent's visual culture, his readings, his material expenses, his series projects, his judgments on other artists and the way in which he describes his own paintings.
The film is less spectacular than the previous five, but it corrects several clichés. We discover a precise writer, cultured and capable of analyzing his work, very far from the idea of a painter who would have created in permanent unconsciousness.
Tip: watch it after Pialat or Minnelli. The difference between authentic words and invented scenes then becomes particularly instructive.
Letters do not replace paintings, but they prevent cinema from speaking entirely in Vincent's place.A viewing method
Posters and photograms
Van Gogh at the cinema: faces, settings and painting in motion
The paintings are no longer alone. This gallery brings together real images from the films to compare the acting, the artistic direction, the costumes and the way in which each director translates Van Gogh's touch.
A photogram does not prove the historical fidelity of a film, but it immediately reveals its method. Pialat places Jacques Dutronc in inhabited spaces and avoids the frozen icon. Minnelli organizes color around Kirk Douglas. Altman builds a duo where Vincent never exists without Theo. Schnabel brings the camera closer to the body and the bridge. Loving Vincent, finally, transforms the photogram itself into a painted surface.
The visuals below come from distributor galleries, press kits and film institutions. They are presented with their source and editorial credit. Each image is different: no repetition artificially inflates the gallery.
A face without imitation
Dutronc does not seek demonstrative resemblance. The look, posture and fatigue are enough to make the character exist.
Gaumont Gallery · © Gaumont →
Painting becomes a promise of cinema
The poster condenses the film's challenge: a world entirely painted, but animated by an investigation and actors.
Official press kit →
The costume becomes a touch
The design of the face, the folds of the dress and the hat are reconstructed by brushstrokes visible from one image to another.
© BreakThru Films →
Move a painted decor
The piano, dress, and wall paper should maintain their coherence as the camera and character move.
© BreakThru Films →
The face as a landscape
The blues, ochres and streaks at the bottom also cross the garment and the face: the character belongs to the same pictorial fabric as the decor.
© BreakThru Films →
Father Tanguy enters the story
A well-known portrait becomes an interlocutor. The film transforms Van Gogh's models into a chain of memory after his death.
Official gallery →
Between actor and portrait
Actual filming provides movement and play; the painting then redraws each expression without erasing the actor.
Official process →
Two brothers on the same poster
The title and the visual announce the real subject: a work supported, sold, commented on and experienced together.
Editorial visual Rotten Tomatoes →Four extensions
Documentaries, short films and dreams of cinema
These works do not all seek to tell the story of an entire life. Their narrower format sometimes allows a fairer look at a specific question.
Vincent by Paul Cox
The letters read by John Hurt, the landscapes and the works compose a sensitive essay, without an actor responsible for constantly imitating Vincent. An ideal choice if you prefer meditation to biopic.
The Ravens in Dreams
At Akira Kurosawa, a visitor literally enters the paintings. Martin Scorsese plays Van Gogh. It is not a biography, but a declaration of love from filmmaker to painter.
Van Gogh & Japan
David Bickerstaff explores how Van Gogh studied, collected and transformed Japanese prints. To see to go beyond the simple decorative motif of "Japonism".
Van Gogh: Brush with Genius
A short format designed for the big screen, useful for places, material details and encounters with works. It works better as a guided tour than as an exhaustive biography.
Comparative table
Nine films, nine ways of making Van Gogh
| Movie | Year | Director | Main angle | Relationship to history | Ideal for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Passionate Life of Vincent van Gogh | 1956 | Vincente Minnelli | Great romantic biography | Documented, but constructs the myth of the cursed artist | Discover a Hollywood classic |
| Vincent | 1987 | Paul Cox | Letters, works and landscapes | Documentary essay, voice of John Hurt | Listen and contemplate |
| Vincent & Theo | 1990 | Robert Altman | Brotherhood and Art Market | Strong dramatization, rich economic context | Understand Theo's role |
| Dreams - The Ravens | 1990 | Akira Kurosawa | Get into painting | Fantasy assumed | See a 10-minute visual tribute |
| Van Gogh | 1991 | Maurice Pialat | Last months in Auvers | Anti-biopic, everyday observation | The great auteur cinema |
| Van Gogh: Painted with Words | 2010 | Andrew Hutton | Correspondence | Text based on letters | Hear Vincent's thoughts |
| Loving Vincent | 2017 | D. Kobiela & H. Welchman | Animated investigation after death | Real characters, speculative plot | Animation and family discovery |
| At Eternity's Gate | 2018 | Julian Schnabel | Perception and gesture of painting | Subjective vision, freedoms claimed | A sensory experience |
| Van Gogh & Japan | 2019 | David Bickerstaff | Japanese influence | Exhibition documentary | Deepen Japonism |
Viewing orders
Four courses according to your curiosity
Loving Vincent → Painted with Words → Van Gogh. We start from animated paintings, we return to letters, then we face the freest portrait.
Vincent & Theo → Painted with Words → our article dedicated to Theo. This journey links cinema, correspondence and the art economy.
Minnelli → Pialat → Schnabel. Three eras, three cameras and three incompatible answers to the question "how to film a painter?".
Loving Vincent → the Kurosawa segment → comparison with the original works. A short, visual journey conducive to discussion.
Look critically
What cinema almost always simplifies
Cinema needs visible events. Van Gogh's painting was nevertheless constructed through years of reading, drawing, exchanges, essays and repetitive work.
The sudden genius
Van Gogh does not invent his style in one scene. He learned to draw, studied Millet and Delacroix, observed the Impressionists, collected prints and used the same motifs. Beware of instant revelations.
The madness that paints
Illness does not automatically explain the quality of paintings. The letters show precise technical thinking, series projects, pigment choices and a great awareness of art history.
Total loneliness
Theo, Jo, the Roulins, Gauguin, Bernard, Signac, Father Tanguy and the doctors are not extras. Even isolated, Vincent belongs to emotional, artistic and material networks.
After the credits
Four paintings to review after the films
Each image below has been chosen only once in the article. Open the work sheet to compare format, composition and color without cinema mediation.
Starry Night
Often used as a global symbol of Van Gogh, it benefits from being placed in the stay in Saint-Rémy and in sky studies.
See the work →
Almond tree in bloom
Painted for the birth of Vincent Willem, Theo and Jo's son, this painting shifts the story of tragedy to family and hope.
See the work →
Joseph Roulin
The postman and his family become central in Loving Vincent. The original portraits show the real variety of this series.
See the work →
The Langlois Bridge
A modern motif transformed by Van Gogh's drawing, complements and attention to Japanese prints.
See the work →Continue the story
From cinema to life and works
Vincent van Gogh
Biography, periods, style and major works of the painter.
Read the biography → The brotherWho was Theo?
Merchant, financial backer, correspondent and first guardian of the work.
Read Article → ParisThe apartment on rue Lepic
What cohabitation with Theo changes in Vincent's painting.
Discover Address → CollectionVan Gogh's paintings
Explore reproductions by subject, period, color and format.
See the collection →Benchmarks checked
Main sources
Cannes Film Festival · Van Gogh
Film profile by Maurice Pialat, 1991 selection, synopsis, credits, distribution and duration of the referenced version.
Consult the file →BFI · Where to start with Pialat
Analysis of the place of Van Gogh in the filmmaker's work and his long, elliptical and collective story.
Read Analysis →Official website · Loving Vincent
Production process, filming with actors, frame-by-frame painting, crew and manufacturing figures.
Discover the process →Turner Classic Movies · Lust for Life
Production of the film, Vincente Minnelli, Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, adaptation by Irving Stone and Oscars.
Read the folder →Criterion · Robert Altman
The retrospective replaces Vincent & Theo, Tim Roth and Paul Rhys in the director's critical return.
View retrospective →The Biennale di Venezia · Julian Schnabel
Confirmation of the selection of At Eternity's Gate, Willem Dafoe's Volpi Cup and his Oscar nomination.
See source →BFI · Artist portraits
Panorama linking Paul Cox, Andrew Hutton, Kurosawa, Altman and Pialat in the history of Van Gogh films.
Read the panorama →Van Gogh Museum · Film and paintings
Educational resources dedicated to works incorporated in Loving Vincent and the choices of animation.
See resources →Gaumont · gallery of Van Gogh
Distributor's page with synopsis, credits and photograms of Maurice Pialat's film used in the gallery.
See the official gallery →BBC Select · Painted with Words
Presentation of the docudrama with Benedict Cumberbatch, constructed from Vincent's letters.
See the BBC presentation →BFI · At Eternity's Gate
Review and photogram by Willem Dafoe on the easel, useful for understanding the physical dimension of the film.
Read the review →Rotten Tomatoes· Vincent & Theo
Profile, distribution and editorial gallery of Robert Altman's film, with Tim Roth and Paul Rhys.
Consult the file →Frequently asked questions
Van Gogh films in ten answers
What is the best Van Gogh movie?
Van Gogh by Maurice Pialat is our first choice for the quality of cinema and the complexity of portraiture. Loving Vincent is a better gateway for a family or very visual audience.
Which Van Gogh movie to watch with the family?
Loving Vincent is generally most accessible to adolescents through animation and investigation. The death of the painter, however, remains at the center of the story; an exchange after the session is useful.
Loving Vincent is it completely painted?
Yes. The film was first shot with actors, then its images were painted in oil. Official production announces more than 65,000 images and 125 painter-animators.
Is Pialat's film faithful to Van Gogh's life?
It draws on the context of recent months in Auvers, but remains a work of staging. Its great accuracy is mainly due to everyday life, human relationships and the refusal of demonstrative biopic.
Why are there multiple durations for Van Gogh from Pialat?
The files and editions do not always reference the same montage. Cannes indicates 185 minutes, while widely distributed editions are announced around 158 to 160 minutes.
Which actor played Van Gogh best?
Jacques Dutronc is the most restrained, Kirk Douglas the most iconic, Tim Roth the most nervous and Willem Dafoe the most interior. The best choice therefore depends on the desired character design.
Which film best explains the relationship between Vincent and Theo?
Vincent & Theo robert Altman is entirely organized around their emotional, financial and professional dependence. It benefits from being supplemented by correspondence.
What movie really uses Van Gogh's letters?
Van Gogh: Painted with Words constructs its text from correspondence and constitutes the most direct historical complement. The documentary Vincent by Paul Cox also uses them, read by John Hurt.
Did Martin Scorsese play Van Gogh?
Yes. He briefly interprets the painter in the segment The Ravens of Dreams, directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1990.
Do these films prove that Van Gogh did not die by suicide?
No. Loving Vincent and At Eternity's Gate use an alternative hypothesis as a dramatic spring. Their staging does not constitute historical proof.
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