At Eternity’s Gate (2018) Review

 

At Eternity’s Gate (2018)

At Eternity’s Gate follows artist Vincent van Gogh in the final years of his life living in Arles, France.

I’ll start by saying that to understand much of this movie requires somewhat basic knowledge of van Gogh and the context the film is presented in, within this chapter of his life. It’s split into two distinct areas—the yellow period, as well as his mental health struggles, two very defining times in his career that produced arguably some of his best work. Much of the movie’s focus is as much about the beauty and wonder of nature as it is Vincent, creating visuals that stunningly mirror that of which he paints.

The film often utilizes a very guerrilla style of filmmaking, comprised of shaky, handheld dutch angles and close ups that allow the viewer to understand the headspace of each character on screen, especially Vincent. It adds to the natural beauty of Earth and the ever shifting point-of-view of man, really showing the world through van Gogh’s lens. Often calm, colorful, and saturated when he is at peace, and muted, out of focus, and chaotic when he is suffering. You feel his range of emotions in wonder, amazement, happiness, and sorrow; a gateway into understanding him as a character and as a person.

We get a superb cast of some of todays most underrated actors, starring Rupert Friend, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Mads Mikkelsen, Oscar Isaac, and Willem Defoe. Despite playing a man twice as young, Defoe brings such a gripping performance, where you get lost in his emotions, feeling the same loneliness of a man misunderstood in his time. He forces you to buy into the notion that he is both genius and mad, all at once.

At Eternity’s Gate, directed masterfully by Julian Schnabel, finds such a beautiful balance in child-like innocence and complete madness, in a movie that is one artist attempting to interpret another. Art conveys something about the world and the human condition words can never express and this is a mosaic of all that, made not to understand, but just to witness, in it’s own chaotic brilliance.

10/10