Well...I watched this movie yesterday because I was interested in the subject and I like Kirk Douglas very much. First, the acting is really disappointing, Douglas seems to act that like Spartacus having a knack for painting, and Quinn does not really fit in the shoes of Gauguin unless you expect him to behave like Zorba the Greek...but it may be mostly because of the direction, Second, the direction is awful, terrible soundtrack, absolutely out of fashion and inappropriate (very Hollywood like. It does simply not catch a single breath of the era! Chamber music of Ravel or anything else from the period would have been better! The dialogs are pathetic and dull. In fact it could really be entitled "Van Gogh for the dummies". Third, the cinematography is poor. Supposedly filmed on location, it seems that some of the backgrounds have been painted, and not by Van Gogh if you know what I mean!

The only good thing is that you get some good shots of Van Gogh's paintings (but you should mute the volume of your TV as the ridiculous soundtrack could ruin it).

In 1991, Maurice Pialat made a movie entitled "Van Gogh", based on the end of his life in Provence (it is not a complete bio) and far from being flawless, mostly because of its editing (the dancing towards the end is way too long). BUT, Jacques Dutronc acted splendidly as Van Gogh, and the cinematography, the soundtrack, were much better to catch the atmosphere of Provence at that time. This one is more refined and I advise it to anybody interested in Van Gogh.