Vincent and Theo
| Vincent & Theo | |
|---|---|
DVD cover art (2005)
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| Directed by | Robert Altman |
| Produced by | Ludi Boeken and David Conroy |
| Written by | Julian Mitchell |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Gabriel Yared |
| Cinematography | Jean Lépine |
| Edited by | Françoise Coispeau Geraldine Peroni |
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Release date
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November 2, 1990 |
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Running time
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200 minutes (broadcast) 138 minutes (theatrical) |
| Country | Netherlands United Kingdom France Italy Germany |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.2 million |
Vincent & Theo is a 1990 biographical drama film about the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) and his brother Theo (1857–1891), who was an art dealer. While Vincent Van Gogh's artworks are now famous, he was essentially unrecognized in his lifetime, and survived on his brother's charity. The film was directed by Robert Altman, and starred Tim Roth and Paul Rhys in the title roles.
The film was made as a four-hour mini-series (200 minute length) for television, and a 138-minute version was released to theaters.
Vincent & Theo has a prelude, which is documentary footage of the 1987 auction of one of Vincent van Gogh's paintings at Christie's, a famed London art business. The painting sells for millions of pounds. The film then cuts to scenes that take place in the period from 1883 through 1891, commencing with Vincent van Gogh's decision to work exclusively as an artist, and concluding with his death and that of his brother Theo a few months later. The film is a double portrait of both men; Noel Murray has summarized this aspect, "Altman and screenwriter Julian Mitchell contrast Theo’s life—which mostly consists of him guiding rich people through galleries and selling them paintings he despises—with Vincent’s gradual development of his own voice and style, through hard physical labor. Vincent & Theo also shows both men as warped by a similar madness, torn between their lusts for sex and alcohol, and their yearnings for social respectability and religious connection."
The film portrays several of the better-known episodes of this period of the brothers' lives, including Vincent van Gogh's move from his brother's apartment in Paris to Provence, Theo van Gogh's establishment of an art gallery in Paris and his marriage to Jo Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's relationship with the painter Paul Gauguin in Provence, his mutilation of his earlobe, the birth of their son Vincent Willem to Johanna and Theo van Gogh, Vincent van Gogh's care by the physician Paul Gachet, and his ultimate suicide.
While the roles of the van Gogh brothers were played by British actors Tim Roth and Paul Rhys, the remaining Dutch and French roles were generally played by Dutch and French actors.
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