This Animation Made by 125 Artists Is a True Masterpiece & One of the Best Biopics Ever Made

Countless movies have been made about artists around the world, but only one is a work of art in the most literal sense.

Loving Vincent is a biopic about the life and death of the great Dutch painter, but it is also the world's first full-length film painted entirely in oils on canvas.

Each of the 65,000 frames is an individual painting created using the same technique Van Gogh himself employed. 125 artists from around the world worked on this project, and the result exceeded all expectations.

What Is 'Loving Vincent' About?

The plot revolves around a letter that Van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo, shortly before his death, but never sent. A young man named Armand, who is the son of a postman and a friend of the artist, sets out to deliver the letter.

Upon arriving in Auvers-sur-Oise, the town where Van Gogh spent the last months of his life, Armand learns that Theo has also died. Armand begins his own investigation into the circumstances surrounding the artist's death, interviewing everyone who knew him.

Gradually, a portrait of a man whom no one understood in life emerges from disparate testimonies.

'Loving Vincent' Is the Stunning Result of Years of Work by Dozens of Artists

From the very beginning, the film's concept seemed crazy, and animation experts assured the creators that it was impossible. However, the Polish-British team led by directors Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman decided to take a chance.

First, the movie was shot with live actors against a green screen. Then, 80 highly skilled artists spent two years hand-painting every frame with oil paints to imitate Van Gogh's palette and technique. In total, 125 artists were involved in the project.

Another challenge was that Van Gogh's original canvases were of varying sizes, so the animators had to fill in details to bring all the images to a uniform format.

Composer Clint Mansell wrote music that sounds like a continuation of The Starry Night – the painting with cypresses and shimmering skies that Van Gogh created because he found reality insufficiently beautiful.

'Loving Vincent' Is a Film in Which the Visuals Are More Important Than the Plot – and This Is Not a Drawback

Viewers should be warned that the detective plot is secondary here. While we follow Armand as he tries to understand the circumstances surrounding the artist's death, the focus of the movie is not on finding answers, but on the contemplative process itself.

Van Gogh's paintings come to life and captivate you so much that you lose track of the plot. This is perhaps the best compliment one can pay to a film about the artist.

What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'Loving Vincent'?

• Loving Vincent has 84% from critics and 87% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

• On IMDb, the movie has a score of 7.8/10.

• On Letterboxd, Loving Vincent scored 4.0/5.0.

Where to Watch 'Loving Vincent'?

Loving Vincent is available to stream on Kanopy.