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