Turner Classic Movies proceeds its month-long showcase of Kirk Douglas' work on Tuesday, September 20, 2011, featuring his famous portrayal of Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956). The movie - airing at 8:00 pm, est - is adapted from Irving Stone's biographical novel detailing a life fraught with madness and creativity in equal measure.
Director Vincente Minnelli, who also cast Douglas as a ruthless producer in 1952's The Bad and the Beautiful, brings Stone's novel to life. He uses Van Gogh's paintings to tell his story; each one comes alive and reveals the artist's inspiration, and the artist, himself.
Kirk Douglas as Vincent Van Gogh
Douglas' portrayal of Van Gogh doesn't have all the earmarks of Douglas' other acclaimed performances - the crackling energy, the self-assured posture, the sly smile, or the sneer through gritted teeth. Even the cleft is gone.
In this film, his energy isn't fueled by confidence, but by mania. He's overwrought with emotion and nearly crushed by loneliness. Rumpled clothing hangs on his hunched frame and a scruff of red beard hides his face. It's not Douglas at all - it's Van Gogh.
That's why Douglas can't watch Lust for Life.
"It demonstrates for me the process of erasing myself and becoming another character," he says, adding that it was the only film that found him nearly lost in his character. (Douglas, Let's Face It 55)
He even followed in Van Gogh's footsteps while shooting on location: he looked out over a bridge where the artist painted, slept above a cafe where he slept, visited a mental institution where he had himself committed, and walked the streets where he walked. He stood in the field where his last work was painted. (Douglas, Ragman 266)
In Lust for Life, Van Gogh struggles to "break through that iron wall between what I feel and what I express." The problem is, he feels so much and with such intensity that he can't harness his emotions in his work. He can't control them, and they start to control him.
Painting is his medicine, but it's also his poison - who can survive that? Van Gogh can't.
Anthony Quinn as Paul Gaugin
The only thing Paul Gaugin has in common with his tortured friend is a passion for painting, but it's a very different passion. Where Van Gogh's work, like his personality, is emotional and unstable, Gaugin's, like his personality, is rational and controlled.
Gaugin has a difficult time maintaining control around Van Gogh, however. His overbearing need for companionship paired with his fragile psyche is too much for Gaugin to bear. Unlike Van Gogh's brother, who's supportive to a fault, Gaugin refuses to feed into the artist's madness.
Quinn plays up the contrast between the two characters with a masculine energy and fierce defensiveness. His performance earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
James Donald as Theo van Gogh
Like his brother, Theo is also tortured - by helplessness. He tries to help Van Gogh lead a normal life, but all he can do is finance his brother's downward spiral and hope that success will bring him sanity.
Donald gives a warm, yet restrained performance as Theo. His eyes betray desperation in his scenes with Douglas as Theo tries to maintain control while he watches his brother losing it.
Overall, Lust for Life is an insightful look into the soul of a tormented artist with excellent performances by Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn and James Donald.
Sources:
- Douglas, Kirk. Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving and Learning. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007. Print
- Douglas, Kirk. The Ragman's Son. New York City, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1988. Print.
- Lust for Life. 1956. Dir. Vincente Minnelli. Perf. Kirk Douglas, James Donald, Anthony Quinn. MGM. Running Time: 122 min.
Amanda Flinner - Amanda is a freelance writer who earned her Bachelor's degree in Writing from Geneva College in 2006. Although a variety of interests ...
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