At Eternity’s Gate

Grade: B

Director Julian Schnabel’s film At Eternity’s Gate takes the viewer down to one hauntingly bleak place, and stays there for its hour and 51 minute running time. But if you are in the mood for it, it can be an intriguing and rewarding experience. After it’s over, though, you will want to go look at cute puppy memes to cleanse and reinvigorate yourself.

Willem Dafoe stars as Vincent Van Gogh. This is his 4th Oscar nomination, and I realize that I have seen all 4. He was my choice to win last year for my favorite movie of 2017/18, The Florida Project. Though this will probably not be his year, he should win an Oscar one day. He is mesmerizing as Van Gogh, and here he is a master at verbal relish and lovely quiet consonants in a film that is lovely and quiet. The movie doesn’t feel or play like your typical biopic that systematically marches you through the steps of somebody’s life. The cinematography and general vibe made me think of something filmed in the 1970s. It takes a handful of vacations from dialogue with extended sequences of Dafoe walking around and stopping to paint, accompanied by the score which is as gorgeous as the locations. Funny how I recently blasted Roma for featuring so much walking around. Here, not only does it somehow work, but I’d have happily sat through more.

At Eternity’s Gate is not always age-appropriate in casting or accent-appropriate. I especially didn’t care about the latter. Some scenes begin with a few lines of French dialogue, and once we get the point that they’re French, it quickly shifts into English with American accents. Knowing what’s being said, what’s happening, and watching actors who are able to sell the material is more important than dialect accuracy anyway. It is definitely work to sit through this film, but if you have the patience for it, it’s a fascinating dirge.

Grade: B