At the beginning of the film, Margaret is seen leaving her first husband and heading straight for San Francisco bringing only a few suitcases and her daughter with her. She then meets Walter Keane at a street fair where she is doing portraits of people on request. Walter is a few stands down sweet-talking two ladies into buying artwork. He then approaches Margaret and flatters her into going on a date with him. The two eventually get married and both become Keanes. At the time, neither artist is successfully selling their artwork. Margaret paints young children with disproportionally large eyes and Walter is known for artwork scenes of Italian streets as he claims to have lived in Italy for a while. Walter and Margaret’s personalities are very different. Walter is a big talker and con man while Margaret takes pride in her work and feels connected to each painting. Multiple times throughout the movie, she states how artwork is a personal and emotional matter. Walter convinces the owner of a club to allow the Keanes to hang their artwork on the walls. Much more interest is expressed in the big eyes than Walter’s street artwork. When someone notices a big-eyed painting, Walter happens to be nearby. He then jumps in and offers to sell the artwork claiming that it is his. Once Margaret’s work rises in popularity, Walter continues to take credit and convinces Margaret that the work will not sell if he says it’s hers solely because she’s a “lady painter.” Because Margaret is not a fighter and enjoys seeing her work being appreciated, she agrees to go along with the fraud although she is not happy about it. Walter becomes very famous and wealthy by selling Margaret’s work. He opens his own gallery, goes on TV, sells her work as copies in supermarkets, and makes his way into big events. When an interview was scheduled with Walter to discuss is motive for the work, he quickly realizes that he needs to fabricate a back story. He claims that he spent time in Europe after the war and was heartbroken by all of the orphans on the street. He also says that orphans of the world are his inspiration for the paintings. In the meantime, Margaret has been working so hard creating the art that has led to their wealth while hiding her accomplishments from her daughter, friends, and the world unable to enjoy her fame. Margaret eventually finds the power to leave Walter after she realizes that she is not the first person he has done this too. The Italian streets that he claimed were his were done by a different artist. Walter then gets filled with rage, and alcohol, one night and tries to harm Margaret and her daughter. This is where Margaret draws the line, moves to Hawaii, continues to paint, and eventually tells the truth about Walter to a local radio host. She then takes Walter to court and wins the acknowledgment for all of her artwork of the past and future after the judge holds a “paint off.”

Big Eyes has a few underlying themes that were appreciated by the audience. The film has a feminist theme as Margaret fights against being overpowered and dominated by the men in her life. At first, she felt so undermined and didn’t know how to be independent and think on her own. Eventually, she realizes how much she enabled this and fights against both marriages, which was not common in this time, and move to a completely different state fighting for what she feels is right. The film also questions the significance of art, fame, and popularity. It showed how art is only considered “good” if it is craved by the public. Although Big Eyes is not one of Burton’s most famous films and doesn’t follow his traditional themes, the film was well done. It’s a very emotional and personal look into Margaret Keane’s life and all that she faced along the way before her, quite literal, claim to fame.

Margaret draws and paints kids, such as her daughter, as well as adults and animals on canvases, the figures have regular sized bodies, yet big, abnormal sized eyes, which is what makes her paintings so different and unique compared to others. Just like many artists, every drawing and painting that Margaret makes has a story behind what is going on when you look at it. In the film, when the camera shows Margaret painting, they show all the little detail that she puts into her paintings and drawings that make them look so visually realistic and very nice to look at in my opinion. As you see her paintings in the movie, you see how she puts so much detail into the background of her artwork. She blends certain colors of paint so she can get the right color she needs for the painting she is working on. You can visually see very detailed figures such as creases in their skin, along with most of her paintings having a very serious face, almost as if the child and or adult is angry or going through something personal or tragic. Walter takes credit for all his wife’s paintings and refuses to let her put her mark on her own work.

There are many artistic techniques shown in this film, such as the detail and shadowing in Margarets paintings. The detail in the skin  and the outfits of the children and adult figures are wearing in each painting, along with the animals that Margaret paints next to the kids in some of her paintings where the dogs even look sad because their faces are straight with no emotion or expression. When Margaret paints her children with big eyes, it is clear that each child looks different, each has a different appearance and the children are a mixture between boys and girls. Some have long hair, some have short hair, but two of the things that the children have in common are how serious they are, and their posture is straight and firm. Although, the movie was well produced and directed, credit should be given where it is due. For example, Margaret paints every painting that Walter decides to sell or give away. During these actions, the people he would talk to about the paintings would tell him that they were very nice and he would take full credit for paintings that were not even his. Therefore, he should have given Margaret credit for her paintings that he is selling and giving away.

A few things that I really enjoyed about this film were how the audience could visually see how passionate Margaret was about her paintings. The audience could tell that if she was credited, she could have been famous for her artwork, which technically she was because she painted the paintings, but everyone knew them as her husband Walter’s works. Margaret was passionate about her painting and liked the way she did what she loved because when Walter would suggest a new style to her, she would brush it off and continue to do the style she was comfortable and familiar with. Now, when it comes to aspects of the movie that I did not like, that would include, Walter not giving Margaret any credit for all the hard work that she put into the paintings that she would spend months working on. Along with not realizing how passionate she was about painting. He would sell or donate her paintings, like they were nothing at all just to make money from them. He sold one of her paintings that he claimed as his own and got a $5,000 check for one of the paintings that Margaret had painted. While watching this film, I did not agree at all with the fact of Margaret not getting any credit due to her for everything she had worked hard for. Everyone deserves credit for their work that they had created. Walter should have given Margaret credit for the paintings he would ask her to make for him to sell and give away, but he did not. He would tell everyone that he is the one who painted everything he sold and gave away.

In the end, Walter never accepted the facts. He went on for the rest of his life insisting he was the true artist of the big eyes paintings and the other paintings that Margaret had made. He said that he only took credit for the paintings because he needed money and Margaret’s paintings sold for a lot so he would sell them without her consent. He kept the money for himself but later on, gave the money to Margaret because it was supposed to be hers for the paintings she made for him, after she had filed for a divorce from him. Walter passed away in 2000, angry, homeless and broke because he did not want to be honest with the people he was lying to his whole life. He never made another painting after that. After Walter passed away, Margaret found happiness within herself  and remarries. After living in Hawaii for many years, she decided to move back to San Francisco where she previously lived and decided to open a new art gallery. To this day, she still has the passion to paint every single day despite what she went through with Walter.

I feel as though in some ways, Margaret is a role model to young artists. I say that because even though she went through a lot in her marriage, with her husband taking all the credit for the work she would spend countless hours and months working on, she never found the need to give up or stop standing up for what she had a passion for. She proved her point after so long that she was the one telling the truth and that she was the one behind all these paintings that Walter was taking the credit for, selling and donating. I feel as though most artists back then would not have stood up for painting the way Margaret did, and for that a lot of people should look up to her if they don’t already. The movie made me feel this way because I feel as though most artists back then would have let people criticize and take credit for their work then give them credit for what they had created with their talent. As shown in this film, Margaret chooses to stand up for herself and bring Walter to court because he refuses to give her credit for the beautiful paintings she has made and to divorce him because he was a drunk and physical with her. There is a scene in the film when Margaret is in her painting room and Walter walks in and sees that she is painting in a completely different style. He asks her why she decided to change it up and she tells him she wants to try something different. In this scene if you watch Margaret’s hands carefully while she is painting, you can see how she uses this brush strokes to make the outline of the faces.

Ushio and Noriko met when Noriko was visiting New York from Japan to study art. Ushio was 41 and Noriko was 19. Noriko stopped chasing her dreams of art to become Ushio’s assistant. She fell in love with him instantly and didn’t think about her future with him or her future with art. A couple months later Noriko becomes pregnant with Ushio’s child making them struggle even more. With Ushio in a big spiral of alcoholism and Noriko always worrying about money their son was raised poorly and became an alcoholic himself. However, Noriko and Ushio’s love were still unbreakable. When Ushio goes to Japan to sell his sculptures at lower prices Noriko is annoyed with him because she wants him to earn more. However, when he returns from Japan Noriko come running down the stairs showing she doesn’t hold a grudge and she will always love Ushio even though she’s not happy most of the time.

Throughout the movie Noriko is faced with the challenge of helping Ushio with his work and not working on her own. She also goes through the conflict of having to take care of their baby almost by herself and cook dinner and clean while Ushio works on his artwork that doesn’t sell. Their whole time together they live paycheck to paycheck struggling on rent and utilities while trying to sell pieces to get by month by month. The unstoppable struggle of the art industry drags them down all until Ushio turns 80. After Ushio’s 80^th birthday things start going right for them. Ushio gets more exposure while his wife has a coming of age and realizes who she realizes she is after creating Cutie and Bully, a cartoonish story type painting that is about Noriko and Ushio and how Ushio is mean to her and isn’t responsible for his actions. As Noriko is coming to these realizations, she becomes more straightforward and starts getting more exposure for herself.

Ushio meets an art dealer that wants to show his work in his gallery. Ushio sets up all of his work and Noriko ends up getting her work shown in another room in the same gallery. When Ushio is looking at Noriko’s work, he admits he’s jealous and asks about Cutie and Bullie and finds out its about him and Noriko. After that Noriko tells Ushio that she works better when he is not around, and he gets offended and leaves in a storm yelling “Goodbye!”. Ushio works on a big piece in his studio called the octopus and puts a lot of effort into it. Noriko comes around and he asks Noriko what she thinks about it. She straightforwardly said it is not good and walks away. Ushio becomes determined to make this piece better coming to the realization that his wife is going to achieve his dream before he gets to. He eventually makes the piece better to show his wife he is not a bad artist and he can do works by himself. This scene especially is very inspirational because he just wants to make his wife happy and doesn’t want her to look at him like a low life lazy artist, so he tries to prove himself to her with the thought that she is better than him in the back of his head.

Getting closer to the end of the movie there are cinematic shots of Noriko and Ushio painting and working on pieces with them talking about their experience in the art industry saying how the art industry is a struggle and there is always a lingering struggle in the art industry. The Cutie and Bullie paintings in the gallery are shown with hearts drawn around the section showing how Cutie has finally learned to tame the bull meaning Noriko has finally learned how to tame Ushio. The ending really surprised me because I didn’t expect for Noriko to be unhappy the whole relationship. I also didn’t expect to be such an emotional ending, it went from Noriko and Ushio struggling with money to having their work shown in a gallery with conflicts between the couple.

The movie portrays the realistic life of the two struggling artists, with both of them living in a smaller apartment and Ushio having a drinking problem. Noriko had to give up her dreams of being an artist temporarily after getting pregnant and having to raise their young son Alex. Noriko would portray her emotions through her art at this time. She would paint dreary scenes of her life, her anger with her path and how Ushio would put drinking before his family and self-care. During this time Noriko’s works showed Ushio leaving their family behind to go out with friends and drink all through a comic strip format style of painting. She would use real-life events and depict herself and her husband in a cartoon style to tell her story and the emotions that came along with it. These become the works that Noriko gets discovered for. While showing her works to her friend, Noriko is encouraged to show her works in an exhibit. Noriko does an exhibit with her husband Ushio, where Noriko puts her private life on show for everyone. This put Noriko’s name into the artist spotlight, and she becomes well known in art circles for her work. Instead of Noriko being known as the wife to a famous artist she was able to be known as an artist herself. This is reminiscent of other artist couples such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with a young woman marrying an already established artist and eventually becoming a known artist on their own.

Another connection that can be drawn between the relationships of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and Noriko and Ushio Shinohara are that the females’ works depicted emotional context, while the men portrayed little emotional context in the works. Ushio’s works had techniques that were considered revolutionary in an abstract sense. Ushio would set up a large blank canvas, put on a pair of boxing gloves, dip them in paint, and begin forcefully punching the canvas to create his works. 

Even though the film is about the relationship between Noriko and Ushio, the movie takes place mostly through the perspective of Noriko. This allows us to know the perspective of Noriko and her feelings while driving the plot forward. The movie uses her artworks as a way to move the story along and provide some emotional contexts to the scenes. This allowed those watching the movie to interpret the emotional context more easily without having to make the characters cartoonish in their exaggerations of emotion. The film does a good job of portraying the struggles that occur in the lives of artists. But also, the struggles that occur in the life of an everyday person. Despite these artists being well known, and their emotional struggles were well documented through their art, the story can still be related to many people today. Those struggling in their relationships, and those struggling to make a career out of something they love can look up to stories like these. Despite the couple having issues with alcoholism and living in poverty, the couple was able to look past their problems and work on them together, creating a strong relationship and working through all their issues. Noriko was able to learn to deal with Ushio’s drinking and eventually Ushio had to stop altogether (Which was a blessing to Noriko) The film also shows the struggles of doing what one loves despite the hardships that occur. Noriko always dreamed of being an artist and despite poverty and having to put her career on hold, Noriko was able to make it as an artist and became famous for what she does. This movie overall is a great movie with many life lessons to teach while also telling the life story of artists not known to the general population. I would recommend this movie to all people who are willing to experience something new and have an interest in art. I believe that the director did a great job directing the movie and telling the story accurately of Cutie and the Boxer while adding a flair that would inspire even Noriko Shinohara.

The documentary follows Basquiat’s history and development with his art and also touches on some important events and artists for the entire history of art. For example, the documentary starts off with the beginning of Basquiat’s journey, where he would spray paint around New York City with another artist as a duo called SAMO. While other spray paint artists would simply tag their names, SAMO would spray paint their name with a different message each time to express their thoughts and feelings about things such as culture and politics in the world. Even in the early stages of Basquiat’s career, it is obvious that he was searching for things that went against the grain of the current art culture. Basquiat, unlike all of the other spray paint artists, wanted to send a message to the people viewing his work, rather than just tag his name to claim that he was there. It is because of this that Basquiat and SAMO became well known locally and beyond. Basquiat, with no money, came up in the art world using whichever materials he could scavenge from the streets of New York City. This is yet another way that Basquiat made himself stand out. By using random objects and materials that he found on the streets, he was able to express himself even more. This also showed his true passion for the art of creation and imagination, rather than simply applying paint to canvas.

A decent portion of the documentary was dedicated to showing the influence that other earlier famous artists had on Basquiat’s work. The documentary shows Basquiat’s paintings next to paintings of earlier artists, such as Picasso, and they talk about how Basquiat drew from these earlier paintings for inspiration. Basquiat was inspired by these paintings, and would only use them as a reference, then let the idea flow through his mind, where he would then modify it and make it his own version of the painting by recreating it. Some early artists that were mentioned in the documentary that influenced Basquiat’s work include Pollock and Picasso. Both very famous household names and inspirational early artists for modern art.

Basquiat was also very inspired by his own life and surroundings. Once, as a young boy, Basquiat was involved in a car accident. His mother gave him an anatomy book to fill his time and pique his curiosity. This anatomy book, and the car accident itself, were evidently influential to Basquiat. Some paintings show cars crashing and some paintings, including his most famous works of art, include abstract paintings of skulls, faces, and heads that resemble the diagrams in the anatomy book that his mother gave him. Basquiat’s history also includes comic books and cartoon drawings. As a young kid in New York City, Basquiat was drawn to the world of cartoons and wanted to be a cartoonist when he grew up. This influence is extremely evident in his artwork. At first glance, the first thing many people think of when they see Basquiat’s artwork is that it is in fact cartoon-like, with scribbles and abstract figures that would not be considered realistic looking in any way. This child-like appeal is what I think Basquiat was going for though. While other artists focus on making realistic paintings of the world, Basquiat had a plan to stick with simplicity and let his mind wander as he creates each piece of artwork. He often writes letters, randomly placed and spaced out, which may or may not have a real meaning. Only Basquiat himself would know what he was trying to convey.

The documentary conveyed a similar feeling that Basquiat’s work does, with the jazz and early hip-hop vibes and music to accompany visuals and the filming and editing style that suits a Basquiat documentary perfectly. The documentary does a great job of taking the viewer through a journey of Basquiat’s life from start to finish and covering all of the key details that make Basquiat who he is.

Tamra Davis, the director, was very close to Basquiat and filmed him in his different studios during the peak of his career. These bits of footage offer the most honest view of Jean-Michel throughout the whole film. An honest, hardworking, driven artist who strived to push the boundaries of his work. The one-on-one interviews give you this glimpse into the mind of the genius. These interviews more than anything felt honest and comfortable and help the viewer start to understand the struggles and frustration of the artist. They feel very personal and helps you understand that despite being this incredible artist, he was flawed as well. Jean-Michel struggled with depression and addiction. This is evident in the interviews later in the movie where he is clearly in pain.

Another thing the film does incredibly well is pacing. The movie essentially profiles primarily his life between ages 20-27 before his death. With each introduction of a new part of his life, the filmmakers show work of his from around the same time. At the beginning you see his work is sparse and done on found materials. Once he gets money and space, he is able to paint at leisure in a real studio. The film does a great job of flashing in between showing snapshots of Jean-Michel’s life and showing the work he was producing around that time. These moments, though short, give the viewer the greatest understanding of what Basquiat was going through. The narration partnered with the images of his work helps you understand his rise to fame and how he struggled with that fame. This becomes even more important towards the end of his life. His depression and struggles with creating show in his last exhibitions. His techniques got more and more abstract and withdrawn the older he got. A really great perspective that the movie offers is the opinions and testimonies of famous art dealers and collectors. For viewers who do not understand Jean-Michel’s work from the start, these interviews help aid the viewer in understanding why Basquiat’s work is groundbreaking.  The art dealers explain in detail how Basquiat was more so than anything, emulating and paying homage to his favorite artists. He used techniques longstanding in contemporary art, focusing on pushing the boundaries of abstraction. He uses words to create messages by repeating them or crossing them out. It forces the viewer of the painting to almost find the story in the painting. Basquiat drew most of his inspirations from books, poems, and multimedia he viewed at the time.

One thing about the film I did not particularly care for was how they actually portrayed most of the art. Most of the paintings shown only appear for a few seconds at a time. Now I understand that it is a movie and there is the necessity to keep things moving, but I would have appreciated a few more in depth looks at his greatest works. Often times in the movie, the narrator would mention an extremely famous painting, the film would show it for a second and then move on. I just would have appreciated a little more focus on the paintings themselves. Despite being a biography and not an adaption like Frida, Radiant Child hits the same pitfalls. I felt the focus could have been centered closer to his artworks.

Nevertheless, Jean-Michel Basquiat: Radiant Child is an excellent film. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Tamra Davis, being a close personal friend of Basquiat’s, pays perfect homage to one of our era’s greatest painters. The film does a great job of juxtaposing his art and the way he is feeling at the time. The personal interviews and conversation with Jean-Michel really make the movie. He was a complex person but did not come off that way. Basquiat was extremely young and yet so mature. He was thrust into this worldwide fame at such a young age, and struggled with the ups and downs of this recognition. The only thing that could have really improved the movie would have been greater focus on the paintings. The film glosses over them too fast and makes them feel less significant than they really are. Radiant Child is an awesome documentary for anyone who wants to be introduced to modern art.

Art during this time period was very modern. It had a very dull color palette diversity and detached brush stokes and one lined work. The painting was supposed to uplift this inspiring abstract perspective within yourself though simplistic and unpersonalized painting. I picked up on the connection that the art didn’t make sense just like how this male dominance power trip didn’t not as well. People tended to go with what was considered normal both with art and status quo. 

At the beginning of the movie; Margaret  Keane was trying to escape her first husband with only her daughter and her paintings. Being a woman who is divorced and with a child was not a good look so she needed a solution quickly if she wanted to survive. Shortly after she met Walter Keane. Walter is a businessman who can sell anything down to a simple black pen like a wolf on wall street. Jordan Belfort was a motivational speaker and former stockbroker who plead guilty to fraud and related crimes in connection with stock-market manipulation and running a boiler room as part of a penny-stock scam. He sold people lies in broken promises just to build himself an empire just how like Walter sold himself to Margaret as a reliable honest man who wanted nothing but just to showcase his wife`s underestimated works. Walter fooled the masses, the press, and even himself. 

Margaret’s artwork was unique. Her artwork had a woman’s touch; it was vulnerable and had a personal connection and attachment because it was based on a unified daughter and mother relationship.  This is why her artwork was so loved because it has a sense of realism and a legible aesthetic of emotion and reason. The big eyes were inspired by her childhood experience of temporary deafness when she had to rely on sight to understand and communicate. In the movie, you can see that Walter couldn’t explain the actual context of the artwork because he had no actual connection to people and love. His whole life was a facade, from his intentions with Margaret to his life as an “artist”. He was also a deranged and greedy person. People like that lack empathy for the lives of others and are selfish. 

The cultural value of traditional gender roles and status quo was very evident thought the movie. While frustrating to watch, it gave me a view of the foundation of feminism and women’s rights. I got a “ Rosie the Riveter” sensation from the portrayal of women entering the workforce and gaining independence. That feeling you got of “ Yes, Margaret, you go girl” is what the movie is trying to stimulate and make you aware of.  The movie focused on Margaret and did not incorporate much cinematic drama and exaggeration for audience appeal. There was very little nudity and the story focused on the big issue at hand which was a lack of women’s power and control in society. Positive attributes that came from this movie also included its focus on Christianity. Margaret goes to the Christian church with a feeling of disgrace from lying to her daughter and causing her to feel sinful. The movie portrays Margaret’s redemption as coming through her conversion to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, when two members of the Watchtower Society visit her home and share their beliefs with her. Some people call Jehovah’s Witnesses as a cult to the New Testament but, for her, it was a sisterhood and a group driven by feminist power, and leading to uprising of feminist strength through Christ. They mention how God values a man as the head of household but for Margaret, Christ gave her the willpower to be both mother and father. 

On the other hand, there were a lot of unanswered questions. The movie never explains fully why she fled her first marriage. But  Margret also had a lot of unanswered questions regarding Walter so it could have been a method by the director to add to the theme of hidden secrecy and lying in a marriage. Overall I think the movie did an amazing job showcasing  Margaret’s emotion and how she challenged the art world, male dominance, and found female empowerment and independence. The movie is inspiring and leaves you wanting more. You leave with a sense of satisfaction knowing that Magaret got what she deserved all alone in the end; courage, happiness, and recognition. It also gave a look into extreme abusive relationships which was a great perspective as well. I must also add that the director took advantage of the landscape of San Francisco and Hawaii, and the richness of color was appropriate to the film’s subject. It was amplified by the vivid period detailing of Rick Heinrichs’ production design and Colleen Atwood’s costumes. The movie itself, therefore, was also a piece of art; personal and with purpose. 

The film itself has a lot of historical art content. Within the first six minutes we are shown one of Vincent’s famous paintings The Night Café. Although not the original piece, it is sort of an homage to the painting. It shows the café portraited in the painting, but with our protagonist and his father sitting and conversating. And right after that we see our protagonist in the painting Café Terrace at Night. We see this again and again numerous times in the film, mostly because this is the setting at the time. I enjoy that, it is almost like a game I can play. How many Van Gogh paintings can I spot? But, at the same time, I find it difficult for others who are not familiar with his paintings to pick them out. I am more familiar with his work, so I was able to tell others what parts are actual real-life paintings and feel very smart while doing it. But I digress. Another interesting part of the movie is the fluidity of the paintings when they transition from real time to Van Gogh’s past. The way the film does this is whenever a character speaks of past Vincent, all the colors swirl around and lose contact to become black and white. It would be the same as a fade into another scene in regular movies. It all works very well together.

An important topic throughout the film is Van Gogh’s death, although it is similar to a biopic as it discussed his early life and his painting. Up until the point of watching this movie, I only thought Van Gogh had killed himself. This film is different in that it discussed the idea that he was murdered instead of the idea that he killed himself. The characters give their own opinions throughout on which act they think happened. I enjoy this aspect of the film because not only is it giving context about Van Gogh’s life, but it is also giving you the chance to make your own decision on what you think happened. It is like the movie spreads out all of the evidence and gives you many options to choose from. I also think this helps us understand Vincent much better. Past movies all focus on how much of a tormented artist he was. It almost always seems like no one cared about him. For example, Lust for Life is a film made about Van Gogh, and in the film, it shows how his brother Theo constantly gave him money but also heavily supported Vincent. In Loving Vincent, they chose to show how Dr. Gachet told Vincent that his painting expenses are what is killing his brother. This ultimately ended up being, according to the film, the tipping point for Vincent to “take his own life.” That part seemed more like a negative to me, because now I do not know what the real truth is. These films I feel are the reason people see Van Gogh differently. Loving Vincent is more refreshing, as it discussed more than just him being poignant, irrational, or tormented. Instead of portraying him as an angry and foolish man like in Lust for Life, this film gives you a look into more than just that. It really shows just how clearly misunderstood Van Gogh really was.

Overall, this theme in the film is a strong one to me. All the events make you ask questions, like who really supported Vincent? Why did some think that he was crazy? And, finally, did he really kill himself? Loving Vincent truly pulls at one’s heartstrings and make you feel so bad for this depressed painter. It seemed like all Van Gogh wanted was to live a normal life doing what he loved. But this film makes you sympathize with him. This way, whenever you look at his paintings, no longer will you think of how beautiful it is, but more about the struggle Vincent went through to create it. Van Gogh truly felt too much, which can be shown at the end of the film when the letter the protagonist was trying to send all along is read aloud. In it, we hear Van Gogh speak about art and death and how he does not know anything about it. But how the sight of the stars always makes him dream. With all of these details together, the movie is a biopic about Vincent Van Gogh that beautifully represents a different side of him that we had never seen before. Instead of showing Van Gogh as some crazy artist that no one understood nor liked, we see a different type of Vincent. One that cares too much, one who just wanted to enjoy life. Someone who was obsessed with living. He was a person who wanted to reach the stars.

The movie begins with a calming montage of Georgia O’Keeffe painting with several of her own artworks fading in and out to calming music, with the overlay of her voice explaining the meaning behind her paintings. By including this opening scene, the movie provides the viewer with an understanding of Georgia O’Keeffe’s philosophical values as a painter and provides a foundational knowledge of the effect her lover, Alfred Stieglitz, will have on her artworks and confidence. In the movie, Georgia O’Keeffe requests that her works be taken down from an exhibition, as she is clearly not happy with any of her paintings. However, Alfred Stieglitz declines, defending her work, as he believes she is the definition of pure “raw intuitive talent.” In this scene especially, the movie does a powerful job of depicting Georgia O’Keeffe as a typical twentieth-century woman artist; having the talent, but lacking the confidence to go anywhere with it, as men dominated this time in history. This theme is very powerful, especially in today’s world as it makes it easy for viewers and young female artists to relate to O’Keeffe’s situation and lack of confidence and her works.

As Stieglitz and O’Keeffe begin to live their life, O’Keeffe’s painting career benefits from Stieglitz’s confidence boost, and Stieglitz’s photography career continues to benefit from the new-found feminine inspiration O’Keeffe gives him. This mutual relationship gives off a consistent effect in respect to the theme of the film. By both parties benefiting from each other, it brings into focus the idea of love and emotion being the ultimate driving force and backbone of these artists. This is beneficial to the film, as the theme stays consistent with the dramatic actions of the characters. When O’Keeffe refuses to come back to Stieglitz after he was caught cheating, Stieglitz has a sobbing episode and a mere heart attack on the steps of his house. Although this part also seems to be a little elongated and overdramatized, I believe it was also still a powerful decision of the moviemakers in order to further emphasize the overall message of the ups and downs of love being the prime motivation behind these two artists’ works. 

Although Stieglitz builds O’Keeffe’s confidence, as she becomes more famous Stieglitz becomes more controlling with the relationship and O’Keeffe’s progress as a painter, and the two quickly become turbulent as Stieglitz exhibits the nude pictures he took of O’Keeffe to his viewers in New York. Spotlights and heavy music make this confrontation scene slightly overdramatic, as the narrator explains how after her nude photographs are seen by New York, she becomes famous and people start to buy her work for her name, not her talent. With this scene comes many questions concerning if that is how O’Keeffe really wants her own artwork to be seen and appreciated. This scene makes the viewer aware of O’Keeffe’s contradictory attitude towards her fame coming from Stieglitz’s pictures, adding to the dramatic feeling of the movie and staying consistent with the film’s message of tough love and emotion as artistical motivation. This is an important aspect of the film, as it not only portrays the development of O’Keeffe’s character and career but explains how people began to appreciate the femininity seen within her works, as the film’s narrator states “the essence of every woman is within every stroke she makes, every color she chooses.” As her flower paintings fade in and out of this scene, the narrators continue to highlight the power of her artistic femininity seen on the canvas, bringing to focus her clear, smooth brush strokes and soft but complementary color choices. This is one of the few points in the movie where her actual work is seen, however, the timing of it was powerful and appropriate in order to explain to the viewer these feminine aspects that caught the eye of Stieglitz and the rest of New York.

As an interpretation of the real happenings between the artists O’Keeffe and Stieglitz, the film portrayed their relationship from a great point of view in the sense that it shows both the emotions of O’Keeffe and Stieglitz as their relation turns turbulent. In conclusion, the entire storyline of the film itself was slightly distracting from the physical made art of O’Keeffe, however the overdramatizing of her relationship through the plot, and film making decisions of including spotlights and heavy music, proved to be totally necessary as it provides insight to the troubled love and emotion behind her works.

Unlike most documentaries, we as an audience actually get to see their entire daily life, which even includes Ushio stripping down to his underwear. Most of the audience going into the film expects to see how artwork is created and how other people perceive it. However, in this documentary we get to see the true problems of both Ushio and Noriko. During an art showing at his studio, it is brought up by Noriko that Ushio used to be an alcoholic. He used to drink every day and waste tons of money on his addiction, not only did it have an effect on him but also his young son, who later becomes an alcoholic just like his father. Noriko has felt regret from her decisions, she had to deal with most of Ushio’s problems and is not looked at as a true artist in Ushio’s eyes. From Ushio’s point of view Noriko is nothing more than his assistant who uses art as a hobby. However Noriko’s own works show all of her struggles with Ushio and with not being the free profound artist that she wishes. However, at the end of the film it is shown that Noriko truly does love Ushio for the man he is and that the complications that he has brought to her have made her the person she is today and the artist that she had become, which is something that she would do again and again.

During the film, Ushio is asked to go to different art showings and has potential buyers come and look at his work. It would seem that with all of this craze people have with his technique of art that he would be making tons of money, but this is not the case. The couple and their son live in a small apartment and are usually behind on rent. Although Ushio’s art is seen as cool and different, it is not exactly what typical American buyers want to purchase because it so different from the conventional ideas about art. However, the couple’s luck does change towards the second half of the movie. More people become interested in their art which allows them to present their work at a studio. Ushio is asked to display his art at first but Noriko persuades the man giving Ushio this opportunity to also take a second and look at her work. The man is very impressed and also invites Noriko to be a part of the art show. The people at the show loved both Ushio and Noriko’s work.

Towards the end, it is not shown whether or not their artwork is bought by people or not. I believe that the directors did this on purpose and have an overall moral to their story. No matter if they make tons of money or if they don’t make a penny, the directors want the audience to know that art is art. Artists create and show their work for the love of it. It shows their passions, morals, emotions, and many other aspects. Art is an expression of one’s self and how they view their idea of the world. This moral is shown at the last scene of the film when Ushio and Noriko are punching each other with paint but with full enjoyment and love towards one another.