COURTESY OF DOUG COOMBE
GOOD DEED ENTERTAINMENT

In his eight years as a painter, 

Vincent Van Gogh painted over 
800 works of art. While he only 
sold one painting in his lifetime, 
Van Gogh’s innovative aesthetic 
and manipulation of form has 
cemented him as one of the world’s 
greatest artists and the Father of 
Expressionism. Van 
Gogh’s work is all at 
once 
imaginative, 

dynamic, emotional 
and 
mysterious, 

and in effect, his 
distinct landscapes 
and portraits hint 
at stories beyond 
the canvas. In a 
breathtaking 
and 

awe-inspiring effort to explore 
these stories, “Loving Vincent” 
combines oil paint animation 
with cinematic storytelling to pay 
homage to Van Gogh’s life and 
work.

“Loving Vincent” is the first 

feature length film to use oil paint 
animation. As the film displays 
in its opening text, every shot 
is painstakingly hand painted 
by a team of over 100 artists. 
These are not still frames or 
backgrounds — the artists behind 
“Loving Vincent” replicated Van 
Gogh’s style and combined it with 
computer animation to make 
his paintings come alive with 
movement. It’s difficult to describe 
the animation effects through 
words, because the scenes are so 
starkly visual; the film’s opening 
sequence is a rhythmic journey 
into Van Gogh’s quintessential 
‘Starry Night’ that launches you 
straight into this captivating realm 
inside Van Gogh’s artwork.

Every scene and character 

in “Loving Vincent” is inspired 
by Van Gogh’s actual work, and 
the 
narrative 
moves 
through 

the landscapes and portraits of 
his paintings. Each voice actor 
resembles their matching Van 
Gogh painting, and the film’s artists 
painted the characters in the film 
to resemble their voice actors. The 
story takes place a year after Van 
Gogh’s act of suicide, and centers 
around Armand Roulin (Douglas 
Booth, 
“Jupiter 
Ascending”), 

the son of the postmaster (Chris 
O’Dowd, “Mascots”), who is tasked 
with delivering a letter from the 
late Van Gogh to his brother Theo 

(Cezary Lukaszewicz, “Crossroads 
Café”). The journey takes Armand 
to the French town of Auvers-sur-
Oise, where Armand interacts with 
the townspeople to try to piece 
together what happened on the day 
of Van Gogh’s unexpected death.

“Loving Vincent” works as a 

detective crime narrative in which 
Armand collects testimonies from 
the villagers close to Van Gogh and 
explores inconsistencies in village 
gossip. The cast of characters 

features great voice 
acting 
by 
Helen 

McCrory 
(“Peaky 

Blinders”), 
Aidan 

Turner 
(“The 

Hobbit: The Battle 
of the Five Armies”), 
Saoirse 
Ronan 

(“Brooklyn”), 
Jerome 
Flynn 

(“Game 
of 

Thrones”) and Eleanor Thompson 
(“Alleycats”), among others. While 
staying true to style, the animation 
is incredibly lifelike, making each 
character expressive and distinct 
in their personality. A vibrant score 
by Clint Mansell (“Black Swan”) 
beautifully 
undercurrents 
the 

beauty of the rural landscape and 
the emotions of each character.

The narrative pacing is well done, 

seamlessly 
switching 
between 

moments 
of 
contemplation, 

reminiscence and action. One of 
the most incredible parts of the 
film is its artistic cinematography; 
the stylistic use of transitions, 
editing and angles done through 
oil paintings is awe-inspiring and 
insanely impressive. There is one 
unforgettable shot where Armand 
washes his hands in a bowl of 
water, and the movement of the 
water is intricately animated with 
oil painting to look both real and 
artistic. It’s unbelievable.

Even writing about this film 

is overwhelming because of how 
good it is. Each scene flickers with 
movement that brings to life Van 
Gogh’s artwork in a display of 
pure artistry. The only drawback 
to this film is that it is sometimes 
too beautiful that it distracts from 
the story. Lovers of Van Gogh will 
have an amazing time spotting his 
famous works and deep cuts that 
appear in the film both overtly and 
subtly. “Loving Vincent” expertly 
combines narrative storytelling, 
artistic 
cinematography 
and 

breathtaking animation that sets a 
new bar for future animators. 

SYDNEY COHEN

Daily Arts Writer

“Loving 
Vincent”

Good Deed 

Entertainment

Michigan Theater

The 
crowd 
shuffled 

excitedly in, only slowed by the 
long lines for craft beer being 
sold in the lobby.

Laith Al-Saadi rocked out 

last Friday night to a packed 
Michigan Theater full of old 
friends. The audience was 
comprised of people who both 
love the music Al-Saadi plays 
and the man himself. He’s a 
hometown classic.

“We took him for granted 

when 
he 
was 
playing 
on 

Main Street” said the host 
of Ann Arbor’s 107.1 radio 
station, introducing Al-Saadi. 
Then he led the audience in 
singing 
“Happy 
Birthday” 

and welcomed Al-Saadi to the 
stage, followed by an uproar of 
applause and hooting from the 
audience.

The lights were black out, 

but he struck a double peace 
signs pose anyway, which led 
to the crowd erupting into a 
craze again. The stage was 
thick with fog as the rest of the 
band walked on. There were 
two drum sets, a keyboard / 
synthesizer setup and seven 
guitars on the stage. Al-Saadi 
picked up one of them and took 
a moment to tune.

Then, still in darkness, Laith 

struck a chord and began to 
riff up and down the guitar — 
the first of many riffs that he 
played throughout the night. 
Al-Saadi gave the signal and 
the lights burst on while the 
rest of the band erupted into 
“Breathe” from his album A 
Long Time Coming.

After the first song, Al-Saadi 

addressed the crowd for the 
first time. He mentioned how 
special the Michigan Theater 
is to him, and he recalled that 
his first professional theatre 
gig as a Lost Boy in “Peter Pan” 
took place at that venue.

“And I got paid, dammit” 

he said. The crowd burst into 
laughter.

Ann Arbor is his home turf. 

These people were with him 
before “The Voice,” before he 
was playing in cities all across 
the country and the world.

“Happy Birthday!” shouted a 

voice from the crowd.

“Thank 
you!” 
Al-Saadi 

responded. “The big 4-0!”

Up 
next 
was 
a 
classic: 

“Ophelia” by The Band. Al Hill, 
Al-Saadi’s guest keyboardist 
for the night, showed his 
award-winning talent on the 
synth and keyboard with a 
syncopated and jazzy solo in 
the middle of the song.

As the first set of songs 

continued, they played more 
of Al-Saadi’s original work 
including 
“If,” 
“The 
Last 

Time You’ll See Me Cry,” and 
“Gone.” That last song was a 
crowd favorite.

“Sing it with me!” Al-Saadi 

said while leading the crowd 
into a slow clap on the beat. 
The crowd was eager to join in 
on such a catchy chorus: “Gone 
gone, babe I’m gone / Oh Lord 
got to keep moving on / I’m so 
tired of waiting so long / Babe 
I’m gone gone gone.”

During the last time the 

chorus came around, Al-Saadi 
stepped 
away 
from 
the 

microphone and leaned his 
head back to add a harmony 
line. His booming voice easily 
carried over the entire theater 
of singing voices, even without 
a 
microphone. 
The 
crowd 

erupted into applause when 
that one ended.

“We’ve lost so many greats 

lately,” 
Al-Saadi 
said. 
“I 

couldn’t leave you without 
a tribute to Tom Petty.” The 
crowd erupted into excited 
applause.

As he started to riff on 

the guitar to introduce the 
song, he slips in the melody 
from the song “Maria” from 
the Broadway musical “West 
Side Story” — the iconic line 
“say it loud and there’s music 
playing.” This is something 
Al-Saadi loves to do: He often 
throws in recognizable and 
famous lines from different 
songs in the middle of his 
guitar riffs just to tease the 
audience, but then switches 
back to the original song.

He then continued into Tom 

Petty’s famous song “Runnin’ 
Down A Dream.” The crowd 
bobbed their heads and sang 
along with the band the whole 
way through. Al-Saadi turned 
this four minute song into an 
epic journey of guitar riffs and 
powerful 
instrumentation. 

He masterfully milked every 
special moment that the song 
gives, extending it out to over 
10 minutes. Just when you 
thought the song was about to 
finish, he broke into another 
guitar riff, each more intricate 
and 
exciting 
as 
the 
last. 

This wasn’t a cover; it was a 
masterpiece.

The crowd was up on their 

feet, hooting and hollering for 
a long time after he left the 
stage, but it was just the end of 
the first half.

As the lights came on for 

intermission and the crowd 
shuffled into the lobby to grab 
a second round of beers, the 
chatter started up. Various 
concert goers remark on how 
long it has been since they last 
saw Al-Saadi, or talk about 
how long they have lived in 
Ann Arbor. These are the 
people 
who 
are 
Al-Saadi’s 

truest supporters. These are 
the people that he was playing 
for that night.

The lights faded out and in, 

the second half was about to 
begin.

The band took the stage 

while Al-Saadi introduced the 
funky METERS’s Brian Stoltz 
from Louisiana, a long-time 
friend and fellow guitarist.

The duo picked up guitars 

and got right to it. They played 
back and forth while facing 
each 
other. 
They 
weren’t 

having a guitar battle, but it 
was more of a conversation 
— 
each 
side 
masterfully 

adding new ideas to the song’s 
progression.

The 
second 
half 
didn’t 

have as many stops between 
songs. Between most of them 
was a just smooth transition. 
Al-Saadi and the band played 
some more originals from his 
albums 
“Real.” 
and 
“Long 

Time Coming.” He also played 
crowd favorites like “Midnight 
Rider” by The Allman Brothers 
Band and “Stella Blue” by 
Grateful Dead.

The last original song that 

Al-Saadi played was “Who 
Turned 
Out 
The 
Lights?” 

which is a hard-hitting song 
with powerful lyrics. With 
minutes left in the set, Al-Saadi 
announced that the next song 
would be the last for the night, 
one that he performed during 
the finals of “The Voice.”

As the band started to play 

the iconic opening to “All 
Along The Watchtower” by 
Jimi Hendrix, Al-Saadi used 
the last few moments with the 
audience: “Thank you, Ann 
Arbor. I love you from the 
bottom of my heart. Thank you 
for supporting me.”

The crowd was up on their 

feet cheering. This time the 
guitars battled, Laith ripped 
into his powerful vocal growl 
as the crowd sang and raised 
fists in the air throughout the 
whole song.

Then it was over and the 

lights cut out, except for a 
spotlight on Al-Saadi.

“Peace and Love, ya’ll.”
Al-Saadi is the real deal: 

He’s a showman, he’s got real 
talent, he’s his own artist, he’s 
an incredible guitarist, he can 
work a crowd, he can sing. But 
above all, he’s a joy to watch 
perform live. He has a smile on 
his face throughout it all, and 
anyone who watches him can 
tell that he feels unbridled joy 
when he shares the music he 
loves.

“Thank you so much.”
It was a perfect concert. 

He left nothing unsung. He 
thanked 
the 
band, 
calling 

each member by name. He 
then addressed his hometown 
crowd, 
in 
his 
hometown 

theater, one last time for the 
night.

“See you soon.”

JACOB EMERY

For the Daily

In ‘Loving Vincent,’ we 
find a major feat of beauty

Laith tears the roof off 
of the Michigan Theater

ARE YOU TIRED OF SEEING WHITE 
ADIDAS SUPERSTARS AND FAKE 

SUPREME HOODIES ON THE DIAG? 
WANNA SOUND OFF ABOUT THAT?

Our Style beat is hiring new writers! Email us at 

arts@michigandaily.com for more information on applying

CONCERT REVIEW
FILM REVIEW

6A — Friday, November 10, 2017
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

