Lust for Life (1956) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error The life of brilliant but tortured artist Vincent van Gogh.

Directors: Norman Corwin (screen play), Irving Stone (based on the novel by) Stars: From $2.00 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC ‘T2: Trainspotting’ Soundtrack Includes Iggy Pop, Wolf Alice, Underworld, And More 10 January 2017 6:37 AM, -08:00 | The Playlist a list of 30 titles created 04 Sep 2011 a list of 37 titles created 16 Oct 2012 a list of 45 titles created 28 Feb 2013 a list of 25 titles created 01 May 2013 a list of 33 titles created 14 May 2013 Title: Lust for Life (1956) 7.4/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations. See more awards » Photos An unscrupulous movie producer uses an actress, a director and a writer to achieve success.

Director: Vincente Minnelli Boxer Midge Kelly rises to fame...mainly by stepping on other people. Director: Mark Robson A slave and a Viking prince fight for the love of a captive princess. Director: Richard Fleischer A fiercely independent cowboy arranges to have himself locked up in jail in order to then escape with an old friend who has been sentenced to the penitentiary. Director: David Miller A movie adaptation of Homer's second epic, that talks about Ulysses' efforts to return to his home after the end of ten years of war. Director: Mario Camerini On one day in the 21st Precinct squad room, assorted characters form a backdrop for the troubles of hard-nosed Detective Jim McLeod. Director: William Wyler A frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to re-jump start his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus. Director: Billy Wilder The slave Spartacus leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic. Director: Stanley Kubrick Edit Storyline Vincent Van Gogh is the archetypical tortured artistic genius.

His obsession with painting, combined with mental illness, propels him through an unhappy life full of failures and unrewarding relationships. He fails at being a preacher to coal miners. He fails in his relationships with women. He earns some respect among his fellow painters, especially Paul Gauguin, but he does not get along with them. He only manages to sell one painting in his lifetime. The one constant good in his life is his brother Theo, who is unwavering in his moral and financial support. Written by John Oswalt <jao@jao.com> Magnificent in CinemaScope and Color See more » Genres: 15 September 1956 (USA) See more » Also Known As: La vie passionnée de Vincent van Gogh See more » Filming Locations: 122 min Sound Mix: Mono (Perspecta Sound® encoding) (35 mm optical prints) (Westrex Recording System)| 4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (Westrex Recording System) Color: Average Shot Length (ASL) = 15 seconds See more » Goofs Camera shadow falls across Ducrucq as Van Gogh finds him dead.

See more » Quotes Vincent Van Gogh : If I'm to be anything as a painter I've got to break through that iron wall between what I feel and what I express. my best chance of doing it is here, where my roots are... the people I know, the earth I know. (Denmark) – See all my reviews When I hear the name Vincente Minnelli certain scenes pop up on my inner screeningroom: A tracking shot at the fair (Some came running), the low tracking zoom towards Douglas and Turner at the pool (Bad and the Beautiful), snowmen (Meet me in St Louis) and the agony in Douglas's face in "Lust for life"; in fact as soon as his redbearded agonized face pops up, all the other movies fade away and "Lust for life" takes over my inner screening room. But apart from being my favorite Minnelli movie, its a movie that more than any other shows his genius in use of colors; every scene is composed in breathtaking technicolor with the deepest respect for Van Gogh's own use of color, and Douglas's acting is filled with the same agony and passion as the strokes of Van Gogh's brush.

As the other great movies who uses color to its fullest (Wizard of Oz, Black Narcissus, Ten Commandments), the simularities between the director and the painter is obvious. Hence, Minnelli's struggle for "painting" the scenes with the richness of technicolor becomes an echo of Van Gogh. It also reads as a textbook in composition from Steinberg's Dead Space to Eisenstein's juxtapositions. In all, Minnelli is of great skill and uses it to the fullest. The story, which focuses on the struggle for a new way of expression, is tame at times and the acting (apart from Douglas) seems static most of the times, but the tortured face and body of Douglas and the use of color makes this one of the greatest achievements in MGM's history and one of the best movies Minnelli ever made. 27 of 34 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes Lust for Life (1956) - Van Gogh from Irving Stone to Kirk Douglas — Immortal Ephemera By Cliff Aliperti 22 Comments This post is part of the Classic Movie Blog Association's "Fabulous Films of the 50s Blogathon." You'll find the entire list of CMBA participating sites here . Admire it or not, Irving Stone’s 1934 bestselling novel Lust for Life allowed the popular image of Vincent Van Gogh to sweep through mainstream America in a way that gallery exhibitions had not and possibly never could. The cult of the famous failed painter, who had only sold one painting during his short lifetime, had been growing in art’s inner circles for much longer, gaining steam along with the entire avant garde at the 1913 Armory Show in New York and standing out through publication of several of Van Gogh’s letters by his brother Theo's widow in 1914. Given all of the color and intensity of Van Gogh's work, it is ironic that he was launched as a mainstream pop culture figure in America through the printed word in a book that did not even contain lush reproductions of his art.

Above: Anthony Quinn as Paul Gauguin with Kirk Douglas in the background as Vincent Van Gogh. Gauguin has just joined Vincent in Arles and finds that his friend has been busy. Beyond invigorating Van Gogh’s reputation and legacy with the mass public, Lust for Life launched a career for Stone that would encompass some twenty-five books through the time of his death in 1989 at age 86. The Van Gogh book is usually paired with the Michelangelo book, The Agony and the Ecstasy, when discussing Stone, though The Agony and the Ecstasy was published many years later in 1961. But Stone did not just render fictionalized biographies of figures from the world of art: He also published novels with subjects as varied as Sigmund Freud, Jack London, Abraham and Mary Lincoln, Clarence Darrow and Earl Warren. It was a long and fruitful career but a trailblazing path that was initially stalled by failure and often accompanied by harsh criticism that called his work anything from lazy to dangerous. Stone was known for his intensive research so why, asked the naysayers, doesn’t he just write straight biography? “Biography is all facts.

It appeals to the intellect only,” said Stone in 1962, about a year after publication of his Michelangelo book. “But with a biographical novel, you can move the reader emotionally. Feel something emotionally and you’ll never forget it” ("Biography"). Stone went to Paris in 1926 with plans to spend a year writing plays. Upon his arrival he was exposed to Van Gogh’s paintings for the first time and a new course was begun. Stone trekked across Holland, Belgium and France, all the while becoming intimately familiar with Van Gogh’s letters. Hundreds of additional letters were made available from the time of the 1914 published edition and Stone himself would preside over a condensed version of Van Gogh's letters published in 1937. In a note dated June 6, 1934 that follows the original text of Lust for Life, Stone acknowledges Van Gogh “friends and enthusiasts” who aided him in his research with first or second-hand accounts of the artist. Sticking to names we can recognize from the 1956 film, this included the family of artist and Van Gogh relation Anton Mauve; Dr.

Felix Rey, who attended Van Gogh in Arles after the artist severed his ear; and Paul Gachet, the art lover who treated Van Gogh at the end of his life in Auvers. Stone’s completed novel, Lust for Life, would be rejected by seventeen or more major publishing houses in New York and Boston before finally finding a home with Longmans, Green & Co. in 1934. Stone told his story of rejection numerous times throughout his career. In 1978 he told an interviewer that editors and art experts at Doubleday had approved his manuscript, but when Lust for Life reached the sales department they said, “‘No way. There is no way to sell a book about an unknown Dutch painter’ — and in 1931 Van Gogh was unknown — ‘to the American public in the midst of a depression.’” After establishing himself Stone eventually did sign on with Doubleday and the publishing house later bought the rights to Lust for Life from the original publisher, Longmans. It remains in print to this day. That last bit probably has everything to do with the movie.

The first report I could find of a potential Lust for Life film adaptation comes in 1937 when Film Daily reported that Edward G. Robinson might star in a film for Associated Artists. That, along with a later Louella Parsons column tabbing John Garfield as Van Gogh in a Warner Bros. version of the book, were probably just rumor, as Stone’s novel wasn’t sold until 1946, when MGM picked it up with plans to star Spencer Tracy as Van Gogh as soon as he completed work on Cass Timberlane (1947) . Tracy would have been a little old for the part, but from all of the names I’ve seen associated with rumored Lust for Life projects--and add Van Johnson to those above--Tracy is the only actor other than Kirk Douglas who I could possibly imagine in the part. Even beyond any extra censoring, which according to '40s reports would have likely included a title change, we would have had a much different movie with Tracy bringing a much quieter intensity to Van Gogh than Douglas, whose outward physical rage Tracy could have never matched, nor do I think he would have tried.

“The next picture I wanted the Bryna Company to produce, and me to star in, was Lust for Life,” Douglas writes in The Ragman's Son . It was director Jean Negulesco who had pointed out to Douglas the resemblance between the actor and Van Gogh, stirring Douglas enough to eventually announce that his company would produce a film version of the novel. “I got a call from MGM. ‘Guess again. We own Lust for Life,’” they told him (239). But nearing the end of their ten-year agreement with author Stone, MGM suddenly felt pressure to make Lust for Life, especially after John Huston’s success with a filmed version of Toulouse-Latrec’s life, Moulin Rouge starring Jose Ferrer, in 1952. Old scripts were put aside and Norman Corwin was brought in by producer John Houseman to create a new screenplay. “I don’t think much of the book,” Corwin told Houseman, after finding value not in Stone’s fiction, but in the source of Van Gogh’s actual letters that Stone colored with his fiction (Forrest 313).

Having read Stone’s novel in preparation for this piece, as well as having gone over several of Van Gogh's original letters, all archived online by the Van Gogh Museum , I don’t disagree with Corwin. The Stone novel is entertaining, but immature in spots and, at least after having been familiar with the film for some time, includes several episodes from Van Gogh’s life, fact or fiction, that were correctly excised from the film. Kirk Douglas wound up getting his wish when producer Houseman reunited the team from The Bad and the Beautiful, signing Douglas to star and Vincente Minnelli to direct. Just as Stone had done when writing his novel, the MGM film unfolds across the actual locations where Van Gogh had lived and worked throughout Holland, Belgium and France. While author Stone is to be credited for writing a novel that brings all of the necessary visuals to life for the reader, the Minnelli film deserves applause for actually showing them. The opening credits to the film express gratitude to an extensive list of museums who allowed their Van Gogh paintings to be exhibited in the film.

Thinking back to the possible Lust for Life adaptation with Spencer Tracy planned ten years earlier, I can’t help but to think of the 1942 United Artists release, The Moon and Sixpence, an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s more heavily fictionalized account of Paul Gauguin starring George Sanders. Sanders is painting throughout The Moon and Sixpence, but all we see are the backs of the canvases in what is mostly a black and white film. Can you imagine Lust for Life without seeing any of Van Gogh’s paintings or, probably worse, seeing them in black and white? Instead we get color by Metrocolor and a film shot in widescreen CinemaScope, a combination that helps to bring Van Gogh to life as well as any film could. But while Vincente Minnelli and company breathed life into the world of Van Gogh that Irving Stone had helped reawaken more than twenty years earlier, it was Kirk Douglas who ripped Van Gogh from Stone’s book to bring him to the screen with a startling combination of tenderness and intensity.

While Stone calls upon the full menagerie of Van Gogh’s contemporary artists for a large and, granted, entertaining portion of Lust for Life, the film concentrates solely upon Vincent’s relationship with Paul Gauguin, played here by Anthony Quinn , who won an Academy Award in the supporting role. While Gauguin is also the predominant supporting player in Stone's coverage of Vincent’s time in Paris and Arles, all of his additional characters, including Lautrec, Rousseau, Seurat and Cezanne, would have been distracting in a feature-length movie. Scaling down this catalog of personalities in the film leaves Gauguin to better serve in direct contrast to Van Gogh as difference between the characters are more clearly represented: “I like them fat and vicious and not too smart,” Gauguin tells Vincent about women. “Nothing spiritual either. To have to say, ‘I love you,’ would break my teeth. I don’t want to be loved.” “You really mean that, Paul,” Van Gogh replies, astonished it could be so. Later, as they are about to enter a drinking hall, Gauguin, bored with Arles to this point, excites himself by joining into a street fight.

Vincent watches, pinned against a wall, seemingly repulsed by the entire incident. Inside, Gauguin seems amused by his own actions as he almost comically laments: “Vincent, why do I do it? Now here I pride myself on my sense of logic and order, and inside I’m a savage. I have this—this attraction to violence.” “Violence makes me sick,” says Vincent. “I have too much inside me, I’m afraid of it.” “That’s why I let it out before it hurts me,” Gauguin replies. It is an earlier moment in this same scene that a touch of subtlety stretches a long way in showing how the film turns out superior to the novel. Inside the drinking hall, Vincent is seated with his prostitute friend, Rachel (Julie Robinson), while Gauguin still scopes out what will be his new haunt. Just before Gauguin sits down with them the woman casually drapes a piece of jewelry over Vincent’s left ear, foreshadowing the inevitable moment of the movie which we know must soon come. There is no spoken reference to the action.

Minnelli and Corwin employ great subtlety in this moment, especially in comparison to novelist Stone, whose Rachel is, I assume more accurately, a very chatty sixteen-year-old prostitute. Upon their meeting Stone shocks us when within a few moments when the playful girl teases Vincent by commenting, “What funny little ears you have” (382). After asking her is she really likes them Vincent says, “Then you can have them.” Then, not thirty pages later, Rachel asks Vincent to “give me your funny little ears” (414) as proof of his apology for staying away for too long. A few pages later, at the end of that same meeting, when Vincent declines to join Rachel in private that evening because he does not have the money, she offers, “Then will you give me your ear instead?” (421). Vincent simply replies, “Yes.” All this was achieved to much less jarring effect in the film by Rachel just fawning over Vincent’s ear with a piece of jewelry. Above: Julie Robinson, as Rachel, plays with Van Gogh's ear.

For pure shock value Stone’s course continues to differ from the film when Vincent, upon severing his ear, wraps it up nicely and delivers it to Rachel, who is, of course, horrified. The film instead takes the opportunity to ice the Van Gogh-Gauguin relationship with a moment of insane treachery that finally leaves Gauguin to understand just how ill his friend is, before giving over to a moment of private anguish that sees Vincent battle his own reflection in a mirror with a straight-razor clutched between his fingers. As he runs his hands over his head and face trying to stop the pain, or perhaps contain the demons, the razor threatens just by virtue of its proximity and our foreknowledge of what is about to happen. Again, subtlety rules the visual medium as we do not see Van Gogh perform the act of self-mutiliation. Instead, the Miklos Rozsa soundtrack swells to disturbing proportions while Vincent stands before the mirror, only to fade to silence as Kirk Douglas steps out of view. The scene ends with a tortured animal cry and we know the deed has been done.

Lust for Life was released in September 1956 beginning a path that led to multiple award nominations including Quinn’s winning of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Douglas’ own Golden Globe triumph for Best Motion Picture Actor in a Drama. It survives as a classic and works as an introduction to the life of Van Gogh and his work. I say it works, because it is how I first met Van Gogh as historical figure myself. The criticism that author Irving Stone so often faced during his career writing literary biographies is one that is always leveled at fictionalized versions of history and biography. Experts in any field, not just art, like to poke holes, especially when an outsider tries to tell a story about a figure from their own field. Stone had the best reply, in a 1985 interview with Bob Thomas, when he said, “There is no fiction. What there is, is reconstruction.” For those without an intimate knowledge of the finer arts, including myself, for better or for worse, Kirk Douglas is Vincent Van Gogh, or at least Van Gogh immortalized. Lust for Life is available on DVD from Warner Home Video or as one of four movies on Turner Classic Movies' Greatest Classic Legends: Kirk Douglas .

Irving Stone's novel can be found on Amazon.com in several different editions here. . Cited ”Biography Gets New Status.” Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal 10 Jun 1962: 7C. Web. Google News. 27 May 2014. Forrest, Jennifer and Leonard R. Koos, ed. Dead Ringers: The Remake in Theory and Practice Albany: SUNY Press, 2002. Web. Google Books. 28 May 2014. Thomas, Bob. “Irving Stone Takes Time to Know Subjects.” Beaver County Times 3 Nov 1985: D2. Web. Google News. 27 May 2014.

Amazon.com: Lust for Life [VHS]: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald, Pamela Brown, Everett Sloane, Niall MacGinnis, Noel Purcell, Henry Daniell, Madge Kennedy, Jill Bennett, Lionel Jeffries, Laurence Naismith, Freddie Young, Russell Harlan, George Cukor, Vincente Minnelli, John Houseman, Jud Kinberg, Irving Stone, Norman Corwin: Movies & TV Lust for Life [VHS] $6.99 Deal of the Day: Save on the "Best of Warner Bros." on Blu-ray and DVD Today only, save on the "Best of Warner Bros." 50 and 100-film collections. This offer is available while supplies last and ends at 11:59 PM (PT) on December 19, 2016. Learn more Add to Cart Lust for Life [VHS] $12.75 & FREE Shipping on orders over $49. Details Only 1 left in stock. Sold by Max Merchandise and Fulfilled by Amazon . Gift-wrap available.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and . If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you increase your sales. We invite you to learn more about Fulfillment by Amazon . Special Offers and Product Promotions Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC Rated: VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998 Run Time: 122 minutes Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #242,050 in Movies & TV ( See Top 100 in Movies & TV ) Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Lust for Life is appropriately titled, for mere passion seems inadequate when describing this superb fictionalized biography (based on Irving Stone's popular novel) of Vincent Van Gogh.

In a deservedly Oscar®- nominated performance, Kirk Douglas is physically and emotionally perfect as the tormented Dutch painter, whose life is chronicled from his ill-fated stint as a preacher to Belgian miners in 1878, to his Impressionist-inspired artistic awakening and psychological descent to suicide in 1890. Having triumphed with 1952's The Bad and the Beautiful, Douglas, producer John Houseman, and director Vincente Minnelli brought vigor and vitality to this blessed project, which centers on Van Gogh's stormy friendship with fellow artist Gaugin (Oscar-winner Anthony Quinn). Minnelli used an outmoded color film process and innovative camera techniques to vividly recreate Van Gogh's paintings, and he filmed on the actual Dutch and French locations where Van Gogh's mastery flourished. The artist's lust for life also fed his madness, and this film deeply understands the fine line in between. --Jeff Shannon Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars THE TERRIBLE LONELINESS OF VINCENT VAN GOGH By Unlucky Frank on August 24, 2002 One of the greatest films ever made about the madness of creative genius.

As films about artists go, I like this film better than POLLOCK and almost as much as BASQUIAT. This is very much an overlooked CLASSIC. I have friends who are fans of Van Gogh's who have never heard of this film. Based on the book of the same title by Irving Stone and for those who love DEAR THEO: the abridged letters of Vincent Van Gogh, a must see. This film absolutely conveys the heartbreaking feeling of this starving misunderstood genius pounding his lifeblood into canvas in a French atelier or countryside while the gallery owners scoff and the painter remains unrecognized and unloved. Kirk Douglas' finest performance, is fraught with peril. Anthony Quinn, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Paul Gauguin, is superb. The script, some of which was taken from Van Gogh himself, is sometimes dated but always poignant: "Sometimes the pictures come to me as if in a dream, with a terrible lucidity." BRILLIANT!! Unfortunately the VHS format is fullscreen which begs the question; WHY IS THIS MASTERPIECE UNAVAILABLE IN WIDESCREEN ON DVD!?!

What a cultural wasteland: I could probably find ERNEST GOES TO CAMP on DVD, but try to find this CLASSIC and the clerk at the local HOLLYWOOD VIDEO might say, "LUST FOR LIFE? That would probably be in the Adult Film Section." I hope someone is working hard to preserve this Masterpiece. Anything less would be a shame. My VHS tape has been viewed so many times the magnetic particles are starting to fall off. If the DVD doesn't come out soon I'll be forced to buy another copy on VHS.(SIGH) BLU-RAY UPDATE 2-13-15: The new Blu-ray is fantastic. Older versions have always had sort of a washed-out drab look. In the BD version colors just POP! Reportedly they did a 4K scan of the original color negatives. This film has never looked this good and never will. Worthy upgrade from the SD DVD. MUST OWN for fans of this film! Lust For Life -- (Movie Clip) Painting Is For Painters! You will receive an email shortly to confirm your email address. Lust For Life -- (Movie Clip) Painting Is For Painters!

title details and video sharing options now playing Lust For Life -- (Movie Clip) Painting Is For Painters! One take, fellow artist Gaugin (Anthony Quinn) has just joined Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) in Arles, in southern France, painting always their topic, in Vincente Minnelli's Lust For Life, 1956. View the TCMDb entry for Lust for Life (1956) share video Lust For Life -- (Movie Clip) Painting Is For... One take, fellow artist Gaugin (Anthony Quinn) has just... Lust For Life -- (Movie Clip) Painting Is For Painters! One take, fellow artist Gaugin (Anthony Quinn) has just joined Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) in Arles, in southern France, painting always their topic, in Vincente Minnelli's Lust For Life, 1956.> Lust for Life - (Original Trailer) Lust for Life trailer Kirk Douglas gives an Oscar-nominated...

Lust for Life - (Original Trailer) "Kirk Douglas gives an Oscar-nominated performance as Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), a film biography of the famous painter."> Promo for TCM's Biopics programming, October 2007. Biopics -- (TCM Promo) Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) Two Kinds Of... Dutch art dealer Theo Van Gogh (James Donald) finds his... Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) Two... Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) Two Kinds Of Idleness Dutch art dealer Theo Van Gogh (James Donald) finds his brother the failed missionary Vincent (Kirk Douglas) in Belgium and urges him to come home, early in Vincente Minnelli's Lust For Life, 1956.> Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) Impressionism... In Paris to see the latest works, Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk... Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip)...

Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) Impressionism Is Not A Joke! In Paris to see the latest works, Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) with brother Theo (James Donald) meets with Pissarro (David Leonard), Bernard (William Phipps) and Seurat (David Bond), in Vincente Minnelli's Lust For Life, 1956.> Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) What Do You... Amsterdam, 1881, failed painter Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk... Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip)... Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) What Do You Know About Pain? Amsterdam, 1881, Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) with his aunt and uncle (Isobel Elsom, Wilton Graff) demanding to see their daughter, his cousin, whom he loves, prompting an incident verified by the uncle, though forgotten by the artist, in Vincente Minnellis bio-pic Lust For Life, 1956.

> Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) You Call That... Director Vincente Minnelli offers vignettes from the novel... Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) You... Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) You Call That A Life? Director Vincente Minnelli offers vignettes from the novel by Irving Stone, based on the life of artist Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas), and his relations with single-mother ex-prostitute Sien Hoornik (Pamela Brown, in the movie called Christine), ca. 1882, in Lust For Life, 1956.> Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) What Do You... Amsterdam, 1881, failed painter Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk... Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip)... Lust For Life (1956) -- (Movie Clip) What Do You Know About Pain?

Amsterdam, 1881, Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) with his aunt and uncle (Isobel Elsom, Wilton Graff) demanding to see their daughter, his cousin, whom he loves, prompting an incident verified by the uncle, though forgotten by the artist, in Vincente Minnellis bio-pic Lust For Life, 1956. > Lust For Life - Film4 Film4 Lust For Life Synopsis Kirk Douglas stars as the great impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh in this 1950s studio biopic by Vincente Minnelli About Aged 25, Vincent Van Gogh was a well-meaning yet inept priest sent to a remote mining village as a token gesture by his Catholic mentors. The trip marked the end of his missionary work, but it sparked an interest in drawing the working classes. Van Gogh found a beauty and dignity in their graft that would mark out his career from that moment on. Van Gogh's life, rife with moments of exquisite joy tempered by mental agony and desperate loneliness, is ripe for retelling and Minnelli's adaptation dramatises his emotional ups and downs in extremis.

With Kirk Douglas in the lead, there's no room for subtlety as the film takes Irvine Stone's book and gives it the full-on melodrama treatment. Douglas is an actor who works well with dramatic extremes. He performs with his whole body in scenes requiring him to be overjoyed at a new painting or falling apart through solitude. He plays well off of Anthony Quinn as fellow artist Paul Gaugin, who teamed up with Van Gogh but was driven away by the artist's mania. But the trouble lies in between, with no hint at the delicacy of thought and imagination that leads to the creation of great art. Shot in dazzling colours and making some lovely transitions from Van Gogh's painting into and out of scenes, the film is visually very effective. The main problem lies with the score; a relentless affair with overly dramatic strings barging into scenes to flag up emotional moments. This is impossible to work against and dates the film badly.

Actor: Niall MacGinnis, Pamela Brown, James Donald, Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Everett Sloane Director: Vincente Minnelli Kurt Douglas As Vincent Van Gogh - Classic Film Kurt Douglas As Vincent Van Gogh Guest Author - Amber Grey Based on the best-selling novel by Irving Stone, "Lust For Life" (1956) is a great biographical film about the life, passion and torment of one of the world's most gifted artists, Vincent Van Gogh. And it was through Kurt Douglas's own motivation, talent and skill as an actor, that he was able to recreate not just a character, but a person onscreen. It was early in his career, Kirk Douglas found his own fascination with Van Gogh after being told he had a physical resemblance to the red-haired, stone-faced painter. It was when Douglas formed his own production company, Byras, that Douglas wanted the first picture to be of a film about Van Gogh with Douglas in the title role.

However, while Douglas was negotiating making the film, MGM Studios bought the rights to Irving Stone's novel "Lust For Life." What the actor didn't know was that he was going to have his chance to play Van Gogh when director Vincente Minelli replaced the original director, Jean Negulesco. Douglas was Minelli's first and only choice for Van Gogh, since he knew the actor not only resembled the painter physically but could justifiably play the role. Also, this was not the first time the actor and director had worked before either. Four years prior, Minelli directed Douglas in the Hollywood noir film "The Bold and The Beautiful" (1952). Once he was cast and production began, Douglas made every effort to bring Van Gogh to life. To the point where, whenever Douglas returned home from set, still in character and costume, he scared his own wife. Douglas's method approach made the role a visceral experience for the viewer. Every feeling and emotion of Van Gogh is explicitly expressed through Douglas's use of not just his voice or facial expression, but his entire being. Onscreen, his every atom is dedicated to expression the frustration, the madness and the intensity of Van Gogh's temperament.

His performance reaches out to the viewer, so that when Van Gogh's paintings appear in the film, blazing with the painter's signature colors and brush strokes, there is small understanding and compassion for the artist and his efforts. Douglas's performance was deservedly nominated for an Academy Award, but would lose to nominee Yul Brenner for his portrayal as King of Siam in "The King and I" (1956). Douglas was devastated by the loss, quoted saying at the time, "I really thought I had a chance." And Minelli stated his own disappointment over Douglas's loss - "Kirk Douglas achieve a moving and memorable portrait of the artist - a man of massive creative power, triggered by severe emotional stress, the fear and horror of madness. In my opinion, Kirk should have won the Academy Award." Lust for Life (1956) - Cast, Ratings, Awards Lust for Life Lust for Life (1956) Biography | 2 hours and 2 minutes | September 17, 1956 (USA) Be the first to review +2 Director: Vincente Minnelli This lauded drama depicts the life of revered Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas).

An intense and imaginative artist, Van Gogh possesses undeniable talent, but he is plagued by mental problems and frustrations with failure. Supported by his brother, Theo (James Donald), the tormented Van Gogh eventually leaves Holland for France, where he meets volatile fellow painter Paul Gauguin (Anthony Quinn) and struggles to find greater inspiration. See All Movies Did You Like The Movie? Advertisement More Movies With Kirk Douglas How famous is the cast of "Lust for Life"? PrettyFamous Score The PrettyFamous score quantifies the fame of the film's cast members based on the number of awards the actors and actresses have ever been nominated for, combined box office gross of all the movies the actors and actresses have been in, and the current internet popularity of the cast. The Worst Movies of All Time PrettyFamous identified the worst movies of all time. 17 minute read › 7 Facts About Vincent van Gogh - Biography.com History & Culture 7 Facts About Vincent van Gogh Today marks the 163rd anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest artists in world history. Here’s a look at his fascinating and tortured life.

Avatar: Social count: 564 Today marks the 163rd anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest artists in world history. Here’s a look at his fascinating and tortured life. 564 0 Vincent van Gogh at age 19. (Photo: Jacobus Marinus Wilhelmus Jacobus Marinus Wilhelmus (J.M.W.) de Louw (1823-1907) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) He is one of the most famous and influential artists of all time, but Vincent van Gogh struggled in obscurity during his brief life. Born in the village of Groot-Zundert, Holland on March 30, 1853, van Gogh was born into a religious, upper middle class family and after much traveling and various unfulfilling occupations, he took up painting with almost no formal training. His tremendous oeuvre of landscapes, still-lifes, portraits and sketches with their vibrant colors and subjective perspective would revolutionize how the world viewed art. He fought depression and mental illness while creating an intense and arresting universe of images.

Popular retellings of his tragic story include Vincente Minnelli’s Hollywood biopic Lust for Life (1956) with Kirk Douglas and Robert Altman ’s quirky Vincent and Theo (1990) starring Tim Roth. His life also inspired Don McLean’s 1971 hit song “Vincent” and an animated feature is due out this year. But no film or song can completely capture the tumultuous journey of this conflicted soul. Kirk Douglas poses with a painting of Vincent van Gogh for a publicity still for the 1956 biopic Lust for Life. (Photo: Getty Images) Here are seven facts which offer a glimpse into van Gogh’s beautiful but desperate life. 1. His Happiest Year Was in London In 1873, Vincent traveled to the British capital to work for the art dealer Goupil and Cie. He was previously employed by them in The Hague. This was the happiest time in his life. He was earning a considerable salary (more than his father) and he fell in love with his landlady’s daughter Eugenie Loyer.

But she rebuffed his romantic advances when he declared them to her, saying that she was secretly engaged to a former boarder. In Nicholas Wright’s largely fictional play Vincent in Brixton, the playwright imagines that the future artist had an affair with the landlady, a widow of 15 years, rather than her daughter. His time in London did not end happily as he became more isolated. He transferred to Paris where he grew angry at his bosses for treating art as a commodity and was fired in 1876. 2. In Less Than 10 Years, He Painted Almost 900 Paintings From November 1881 to July 1890, van Gogh produced close to 900 paintings. At the age of 27, he abandoned his unsuccessful careers as an art dealer and a missionary and concentrated on his painting and drawing. When he began painting he used peasants and farmers as models and then flowers, landscapes and himself because he was too poor to pay his subjects. Vincent Van Gogh - Full Episode (TV-PG; 44:14) A full biography about the most influential 20th century painter, Vincent Van Gogh. 3.

A Prolific Correspondent He wrote nearly as many letters as he created paintings. Van Gogh composed nearly 800 letters in his lifetime, mainly to his brother and closest friend Theo. 4. Only One Painting Sold During His Lifetime Van Gogh was never famous as a painter during his lifetime and constantly struggled with poverty. He sold only one painting while he was alive: The Red Vineyard which went for 400 francs in Belgium seven months before his death. His most expensive painting Portrait of Dr. Gachet was sold for $148.6 million in 1990. 5. Only the Lobe, Not the Whole Ear Was Cut Off It’s popularly believed that van Gogh cut off his ear but he actually only severed a part of the ear lobe. The accepted version is that the artist mutilated himself with a razor after an argument with his friend Paul Gauguin in Arles where they were both staying during Christmas of 1888. He then ran to a bordello and presented the cut lobe to a prostitute.

A new book by two German historians purports that what really happened is that Gauguin lopped off his friend’s lobe while they were fencing and the self-mutilation was concocted between the two to avoid embarrassment and arrest. Van Gogh immortalized his wound in his Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Vincent van Gogh's Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889. (Painting by Vincent van Gogh via Wikimedia Commons) 6. His Most Famous Work Was Done in an Asylum Starry Night, arguably his most famous work, was painted in an asylum at Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France. He voluntarily admitted himself there to recover from his 1888 nervous breakdown which resulted in the ear-cutting incident. The painting depicts the view from his bedroom window. It has been part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s permanent collection since 1941. Vincent van Gogh - Starry Night (TV-14; 1:56) While hospitalized, van Gogh worked in a studio set up by his brother Theo.

Inspired by a dream, Vincent van Gogh painted "The Starry Night." He took his own life one year later at age 37 in Auvers sur Oise, near Paris. 7. He Died at 37 On July 27, 1890, van Gogh shot himself in the chest. There were no witnesses and the gun was never found. He committed the act either in the wheat field he had been painting or in a barn. He was able to stagger to the auberge in Auvers where he was staying. Two doctors tended to him, but the bullet could not be removed because there was no surgeon available. He died on July 29, 1890 from an infection in the wound. His brother Theo later wrote to their sister Elizabeth, “In the last letter which he wrote me and which dates from some four days before his death, it says, ‘I try to do as well as certain painters whom I have greatly loved and admired.’ People should realize that he was a great artist, something which often coincides with being a great human being.

In the course of time this will surely be acknowledged, and many will regret his early death.” Theo, who had been supporting his brother, died six month later. Theo’s wife dedicated herself to collecting her late brother-in-law’s work and thanks to her diligence, it began to receive recognition 11 years later. Tags

Question: What is the title of the 1956 film, starring Kirk Douglas, which is a biography about the life of painter Vincent van Gogh?
Answer: Lust For Life