My feelings about the film were that it was constructed as a series of painted images as a novelty - which I suppose is quite valid, but after a few minutes I needed more of a plot to get into and I found the 12 frames a second to be too jagged for comfort. I realised that the film slipped into black and white for retrospectives, but I was distracted wondering why the painting style was different - as it happens, smoother than the colour frames. There were 100 in the audience which is very pleasing. I sat in the stalls unusually, and appreciated the sound quality so much more that when in my normal position behind the front facing speakers. I now have a new item for the short term shopping list: another two speakers. For a blog post about the preceding day's art show 'in the manner of Vincent' and indeed pictures, please visit the RCC Facebook page. Eugene.
The film is an amazing cinematic experience and one I am glad I have had the opportunity to view. However, it took me sometime to become accustomed to the myriads of tiny colour explosions constantly playing across everything. The effect was slightly unnerving as if bacteria had suddenly become visible. In the light of Vincent’s mental instability that seemed very appropriate, but it may not have been intentional. A letter left by Vincent for Theo, his brother, was the vehicle by which Armand Roulin investigated whether Vincent had been murdered, or if indeed he had shot himself. Clearly not everyone in Arles and its surroundings loved Vincent and no firm conclusion was drawn. The excellent short film about Banksy, shown before the interval, was in complete contrast to Loving Vincent in its gritty politics, concrete and telling images. It tells of a luxury hotel Banksy has had built on the Gaza Strip called ‘The Walled Off’. The concrete wall dividing the Jews from the Palestinians is all that can be seen from the windows. It is interesting to think Van Gogh had an amazing talent that went unrecognised, not achieving fame in his lifetime, whereas Banksy is famous but nobody knows who he really is. Many people told me that for one reason and another they had been prevented from going to Friday’s exhibition and were very pleased of the opportunity to see the most voted for pictures on display at the front of the hall. There were ten of us at the discussion group lead by Jon Oram and Roddy Maude-Roxby and it was good to have their professional opinions. The question raised was did the film warrant the effort, time and expense invested in this method of animation? Opinion was divided and people were passionate on both sides, which made for a good discussion. Many of us thought the story line was weak. The Banksy film was very well liked. One man pointed out that Banksy may not be the most accomplished graffiti artist but he is undeniably a great communicator. Sonia