At Eternity’s Gate

At Eternity’s Gate

“At Eternity’s Gate” is a movie that combines three artists: subject Vincent Van Gogh, actor Willem Dafoe, and director Julian Schnabel. Schnabel, who previously directed “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” does not care about making audiences follow along with the high points of a well-known life in this film. It is more interested in philosophy and process than product.

The film was also very much a singular showcase for Dafoe. Often moving and often in close-up, Schnabel’s camera seems to be looking for the magic in Dafoe’s performance as though it were a landscape that Van Gogh was painting. “At Eternity’s Gate” does not worry about things like inconsistent accents or the fact that Dafoe is 25 years older than Van Gogh when he died. It is an impressionistic work of art about genius.

Like a series of paintings themselves, episodes make up “At Eternity’s Gate.” They depict his final years which were often marked by madness while he remained underappreciated by everyone around him. Throughout some of this time, Van Gogh has colleagues such as Paul Gaugin (Oscar Isaac) and his brother Theo (Rupert Friend), but frequently appears to succumb to something bigger than one can see or comprehend; including realizing he wasn’t made for this world.

In one scene where a priest played by Mads Mikkelsen visits him to question his sanity, there’s a moment where van gouge tells the priest that he thinks maybe god made him ‘a painter for people who weren’t born yet’. Did Vincent know how rare it is for great works of art to be appreciated during their creators’ lifetimes? I’m sure art historians could answer that better than I can but it certainly feels like an underlying theme here one which usually reduces too many stories about our friend with only half an ear. Mr. Schnabel paints Vincent Van Gogh like some kind of temporal anomaly; an outsider to everything we know because he saw things differently from anyone else

For viewers, “At Eternity’s Gate” can be quite a challenge. When the camera is used by Schnabel, it seems that it is only a few inches away from actors’ chins such as Isaac and Dafoe; at this point, the lines on their faces become some sort of art itself. However, when trying to capture artistic genius or impending madness, Schnabel does so without any of those crutches found typically in biopics.

He is there in Dafoe’s face asking him not so much to become Vincent Van Gogh but to channel some undercurrents which inspired the most influential and great art works ever known to man. Fortunately for Schnabel, Dafoe is more than equal to task set before him; having been one among our finest actors for long time now, ’Gate’ does more than just add another feather into his cap it remains among most outstanding performances delivered throughout his career so far because he discovered means through which truth about character within moment could be portrayed while also accommodating broader aspects regarding life contemplated by film maker representing various philosophical outlooks onto existence itself.

Oscar nominated “The Florida Project” couldn’t be further apart from this one; nevertheless, nothing reminded me better of “The Last Temptation Of Christ” than that did.

Even though performance by Dafoe consistently fascinates throughout thereby lifting whole picture up high above its initial level yet sometimes I felt like Schnable ought to have taken short rest with regards continuous showing after another scene dealing with deep philosophy behind art since towards second half filmmaking becomes excessively self-consciousness where dialogue keeps getting repeated over again alongside layering images upon themselves so as try emulating madness. Crutches aren’t really necessary for Dafoe here because he already knows what needs to be done.

In fact best parts within movie are ones where Vincent Van Gogh sees himself staring at landscape or looking upwards into merciless sky while asking why he’s so different before utilizing those distinctions towards creation of beautiful works. These represent times during which seems as though all three artists’ voices in film can be seen and heard simultaneously thus coming closest ever to capturing infinite potentials residing within art itself.

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