by Murtada Elfadl
Willem Dafoe went 14 years between his first and second Oscar nominations, and another 17 years between his second and third. But the star of Platoon (1986), Shadow of a Vampire (2000) and The Florida Project (2017) could immediately follow up that last nomination just a year later with his lead role as Vincent Van Gogh in Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate...
The film has just played at Venice to early excellent reviews. It will close the New York Film Festival next month before opening on November 16. What we know is that it is not a straight biopic of Van Gogh’s life even if it touches on the milestones that we are all familiar with - cutting off his ear, his relationship with his brother (Rupert Friend) and contemporary Paul Gauguin (Oscar Isaac). In fact with the newly released trailer, the film is officially described as “not a forensic biography, but rather scenes based on Vincent van Gogh's letters, common agreement about events in his life that present as facts, hearsay, and moments that are just plain invented.” The reviews follow suit and make sure to tell us what kind of biopic it’s not.
“..transcends the limitations of the conventional biopic and creates something that feels genuinely new”- IndieWire.
You can judge yourself from the trailer...
Your turn to tell us: Yes, No or Maybe So?