65,000 Shades of Van Gogh: Clint Mansell Scores Stylish 'Loving Vincent'

Loving Vincent, the directorial debut from Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, is a curious film (you can enjoy an exclusive clip from the film above). Part reverent biopic, part noirish thriller, the film follows Armand Roulin — son of the bearded postman Joseph Roulin, Vincent van Gogh’s friend and frequent subject — in his attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding the painter’s death. Loving Vincent is moreover a unique feat of cinema: each of its 65,000 frames is a canvas oil painting; the film was hand-painted by a team of 115 artists.

The aptly titled film is a loving paean to van Gogh’s work. Each scene is built directly from his own paintings; the animation magnifies the undulating colors and uncanny sense of movement in van Gogh’s brushstrokes.

A stylish soundtrack by the English film composer Clint Mansell (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan) amplifies the homage to van Gogh. Explaining her practice of leaving flowers daily at van Gogh’s grave, Marguerite Gachet (an intimate of van Gogh’s and the subject of more than one painting) tells Roulin, “He would appreciate the delicate beauty of their bloom.” The same might be said for Mansell’s ethereal vignettes, rife with melancholy piano motifs, hazy string textures, and pulsating rhythms.

Mansell’s music runs through much of Loving Vincent, animating the narrative with subtle propulsion. The muted pastel timbres of Mansell’s orchestration complement the imagery’s softness. Likewise, the soundtrack contains an alchemical blend of delicacy and mystery well-suited to the film’s moody black-and-white flashback scenes. Some moments accomplish both: “Wheatfield with Crows” captures the idyll and the quiet eeriness of van Gogh’s canvas of the same name.

As a stand-alone album, the soundtrack satisfies as a post-minimalist ambient record. From the evocative opening strains of “Night Café” to the unassuming keyboard figurations, colored by dreamlike string harmonics, in “Marguerite Gachet at the Piano,” Mansell’s score sustains a narrative arc on its own. In context, what Mansell has created is music just as essential to Loving Vincent’s complete aesthetic as the painted animation.

Stream Loving Vincent on Spotify:

→ Loving Vincent is also available on Amazon