Sur les pas de Van Gogh
Dominik Rimbault
2000 - 55 min - Beta numérique - France

The director shows us the private universe of Vincent Van Gogh during the last three years of his life through Vincent's letters to his brother Théo and in the very place where he lived. His arrival in Arles, which he compares with Japan : "The country seems to me to be as beautiful as Japan for the limpidity of the atmosphere and the effects of gay colours."
It is a euphoric period for Vincent... He is enthusiastic about this strong, colourful nature. It is one of his most prolific periods. He wants to set up the Atelier du Midi and bring his friends to it. He manages to convince Gauguin who joins him. The passionate side of both men makes this friendship incompatible and it is a failure for Vincent...
We follow him to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole hospice where he gets treatment... He passes through a period of withdrawal and despair. He paints the famous irises, the cypresses and the starry night of Saint-Rémy. "I now absolutely want to paint a starry sky. Often it seems to me that the night is even more richly coloured than by day, coloured and violet, intenser blues and greens. When you pay attention, you will see that certain stars are lemon coloured, others have fire, pink, green, blue, forget-me-not..."
He committed suicide on 27 July 1890, in the middle of the fields of wheat.
These letters reveal his life every day, his impressions about his environment and his thoughts about art.