Lust for Life (film)

  • Release Date: 1956
  • Director(s): George Cukor ; Vincente Minnelli
  • Writer(s): Norman Corwin
  • Principal Actors and Roles: Kirk Douglas (Vincent van Gogh); Anthony Quinn (Paul Gauguin); Jill Bennett (Willemien); Pamela Brown (Christine); James Donald (Theo van Gogh); Niall Macginnis (Roulin)
  • Book / Story Film Based On: Lust For Life by Irving Stone

Lust for Life was a biographical film about the life of painter Vincent van Gogh, detailing van Gogh’s life from about 1878 until his death in 1890. The story that inspired the film was based Irving Stone’s 1934 novel, also titled Lust for Life, and Norman Corwin wrote the adapted screenplay.

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Stone penned a screenplay for a film version of his original novel in the 1940s while he was working at Universal Pictures in attempts to garner interest in his story. MGM wanted to secure the rights to the novel, and in 1946, purchased the rights from Stone, with the stipulation that if MGM failed to produce a film within ten years of the purchase date, all rights would go back to Stone. Over the course of the next ten years, many different parties wanted the opportunity to make the film, and negotiated with MGM for the rights to Stone’s novel. Even Stone himself regretted selling to MGM and, wanting the rights so he could make a film himself, bargained with MGM to buy them back. However, MGM refused to sell to Stone, and maintained ownership of the story’s rights. With only ten months until the expiration of the contract, MGM scrambled to begin pre-production for the Lust of Life film, and shooting wrapped in December 1955, just weeks before the contract expiration date.

Kirk Douglas, who played the lead role of Vincent van Gogh, was acclaimed for his portrayal of the character, as well as his uncanny resemblance to the painter. In preparation for the role, Douglas cut his hair to look like van Gogh, and dyed it van Gogh’s reddish tint. Additionally, Douglas took painting lessons and practiced painting crows so that he would be believable when painting onscreen.

Plot

The film begins in Holland in 1878, where Vincent van Gogh has failed in his efforts to become an Evangelical priest. Desperate to do something, the priests agree to let him preach in the poor coal-mining town of Borinage, Belgium. While there, van Gogh fails to preach effectively, and instead donates all of his possessions and commits to a life of poverty while working alongside the townspeople. However, when church officials visit Borinage to check van Gogh’s progress and find he has not done the job he was sent there to do, they dismiss him.

Van Gogh then travels to his family’s home in Holland with his devoted brother, Theo, who provides him with financial and moral support. While he is there, he falls in love with his cousin, Kay, who is disgusted by and rejects his advances. Spurned, van Gogh visits a local bar where he meets Christine, a prostitute with whom he starts a relationship and soon the pair moves in together. However, Christine soon leaves van Gogh because he is too poor, and he returns home and begins painting.

Inspired by the fields near his family’s home, van Gogh begins working on cultivating a new painting style, but is constantly upset that his abilities cannot match his artistic visions. Soon, van Gogh goes to stay with his brother Theo in Paris, where inspiring Impressionist painters such as Seurat and Pissarro surround him. While in Paris, van Gogh meets the intense painter Paul Gauguin, who invites van Gogh to move with him to Arles in southern France. While there, van Gogh’s obsessions over his painting escalate, and he turns to alcohol. One night, after a big fight with Gauguin, van Gogh cuts off his own ear.

After starting to experience hallucinations and seizures, van Gogh checks himself into a mental institution. His brother, Theo, helps sign him out after receiving treatment, and takes van Gogh back with him to the city. However, continual attempts at therapy do not help van Gogh, and despite selling his first painting, he remains severely depressed and eventually kills himself with a gun.

Significance

In order to showcase the paintings of Vincent van Gogh in the film, approximately two hundred large color photos were created to represent van Gogh’s completed canvas works. Additionally, filmmakers commissioned copies of van Gogh’s paintings to be made, and were painted by Robert Parker, an art teacher. Many of the works showcased onscreen were printed using direct negatives, so that upon backlighting, they looked bright and colorful. For further authenticity, the entire film was shot on location in all of the film’s different settings—from Holland, to the mining town of Borinage, to Paris.

Vincente Minnelli, who was best known for directing musical film classics such as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) and An American in Paris (1951), was the film’s director. Minnelli was a painter himself and wanted the colors used in the film to reflect the different periods of van Gogh’s life, preparing in-depth and complex color scheme designs. For example, when van Gogh is working in the mining town of Borinage, Minnelli used a gray color palette, and emphasized the gray nature of the town; by contrast, all of the scenes in Paris use red hues. Additionally, the filmmakers used a combination of Ansco Color and CinemaScope in filming, which gave the picture high photographic precision.

Lust for Life premiered in New York in 1956 at the Plaza Theatre, and benefited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Premieres of the film in other major cities around the country similarly served as benefits. Upon opening, the film received high praise and great reviews. Kirk Douglas was recognized for his performance as van Gogh with a best actor win at the Golden Globes, as well as the New York Film Critics’ Circle Awards. He was also nominated for the Academy Award for best actor, but did not win. Lust for Life was also recognized at the Academy Awards with nominations for best art direction/set decoration, best adapted screenplay, and Anthony Quinn won the award for actor in a supporting role for his performance as Paul Gauguin.

However, despite the film’s critical success, it was not a financial success. The film earned about $1.5 million in the United States and Canada, resulting in a loss for MGM of approximately $2 million.

Awards and nominations

Won

Nominated

  • Academy Award (1956) Best Actor: Kirk Douglas
  • Academy Award (1956) Best Screenplay (Adapted): Norman Corwin
  • Academy Award (1956) Best Art Direction-Set Direction (Color)
  • Golden Globe (1956) Best Motion Picture (Drama)
  • Golden Globe (1956) Best Director: Vincente Minnelli
  • Golden Globe (1956) Best Motion Picture Actor (Drama): Kirk Douglas
  • Golden Globe (1956) Best Supporting Actor: Anthony Quinn

Bibliography

Crowther, Bosley. "Lust For Life (1956) Screen: Color-Full Life of Van Gogh; ‘Lust for Life’ Tells Story Through Tints Kirk Douglas Stars in Film at the Plaza." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Sept. 1956. Web. 25 July 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9901E4DB173EE23BBC4052DFBF66838D649EDE>.

"Lust for Life (1956)." Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Turner Entertainment, 2015. Web. 25 July 2015. <http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/291/Lust-for-Life/>.

McElhaney, Joe. Vincente Minnelli: The Art of Entertainment. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 2009. Print.

Stone, Irving. Lust for Life. New York: Penguin, 1984. Print.

Walker, John A. "Of Cypresses and Sunflowers." Monthly Film Bulletin 1 July 1990: 184–5. Print.