An artist making art

As the author of both the stage play "Stranger on the Earth" as well as the writer/director of the film "The Eyes of Van Gogh" I made extensive use of these extraordinary documents. Vincent's letters are profound, brilliant and fascinating, offering keen insights into the world in which he lived as well as laying bare his soul. Although this new volume is beautiful, the original English translation issued many years ago serves the purpose just as well at a lesser cost, so there is no excuse not to explore them. Almost as remarkable is the story of how they came to be saved, translated and published through the efforts of his sister-in-law, a woman for the ages. For more information please visit www.theeyesofvangogh.com.

Polanski's Supporters

I am both independent and progressive in my thinking and I applaud your article in the Weekly standard on that sleaze bag, Roman Polanski. He and his fellow sleaze bags in Hollywood are one big reason why I've never wanted to be part of the culture [I use the word loosely] that these people represent. The garbage that these people produce is only matched by the quality of those who produce it. The tactic of making the victim the guilty party, [13 no less] is typical and beneath contempt. I keep thinking if the victim had been the daughter of one of Polanski's supporters they would feel quite differently, but frankly I have my doubts. Since the enslavement and brutalization of women is one of the greatest problems in the world today, the overt support in the celebrity community for this miserable creep, Polanski, is despicable and inexcusable. Thank you for a most excellent article. Cross Posted to The Weekly Standard

From Mad Painter to Mad King

I'm grateful to Joe Montague of Riveting Riffs for the interview.

Letters of Vincent van Gogh

In this article, the author Waldemar Januszczak is certainly correct when he refers to van Gogh's letters as "the greatest cache of writing about art left behind by any artist".
For more information go here.

Gauguin and van Gogh in Arles

Director’s Notes

In my film The Eyes of van Gogh, Paul Gauguin’s arrival at the Yellow House in Arles is the happiest day in Vincent van Gogh’s life. He will now be able to work with the man who, among living artists, he regards with the highest respect and esteem. He’ll have a friend and companion in art. From this will come his greatest dream: the realization of the School of the South. From this day forth, he believes, everything he’s dreamt of is possible.

To prepare for Gauguin’s arrival, Vincent has been working day and night with little sleep or food. He’s determined to show Gauguin as much good work as possible. All of Vincent’s hyperactivity and nervousness are focused completely on Gauguin. He and what he represents to Vincent are the emotional center of the scene. In his overwhelming excitement and eagerness he cuts off thoughts in mid-sentence and then jumps to a different thought entirely.

Aural Hallucinations in the film The Eyes of Van Gogh

In my film The Eyes of Van Gogh, the audience first becomes aware that Vincent van Gogh is hearing voices when Dr. Peyron, played by Roy Thinnes escorts him to his room in the insane asylum at St. Remy.

Vincent absorbs the atmosphere of the room like a sponge. He finds it desolate. He can feel it, taste it - almost hear it. When he hears the voices of his mother and father he reacts very much as he did at the time as a child. He is, in turn, startled, confused, and ultimately trembling in fear and anticipation.

Those voices began to torment van Gogh the night he threatened Paul Gauguin with a razor and continued after Gauguin left Arles. They are insidious and ugly yet, perversely, irresistible.

Throughout the film, he has no control over them. When they occur he feels transported to another world. Voices and sounds in the present are barely heard. He reacts to them, not retrospectively, but rather in relation to what they meant when they took place. He lives in the moment they occurred and takes the audience with him.

Character Analysis: Death of a Salesman

Director's Notes Part Three

It is a sad and frightening truth that Linda, Willy's wife, who is so totally devoted and loyal to him, who is his pillar of strength, who will let no one speak ill of him (no matter how justified it may be), who does everything possible to make his life peaceful and happy, who knows so well how to handle him, who can anticipate almost his every mood and who prides herself on understanding him so well, in actuality knows Willy very little.

She encourages him to stay at a job he is obviously unfit for; she is unaware of his self-esteem crisis and his pie-in-the-sky delusions; she discourages him from starting other pursuits (this because of her ultra-conservative nature); and is completely bewildered by his suicide, despite the clues that are dropped everywhere.

Her fundamental decency, integrity, loyalty and love are remarkable and unquestionable, but it must be realized that she unwittingly feeds Willy’s problem. The love and devotion she gives him, however, are truly a wonder. Tragically, Willy never understands the depth of her commitment.

Fundamentally, Biff is decent, gentle and sensitive. He is extremely stubborn, with a strong independent streak. Right to the very end it is love, not hatred, that drives the relationship between Biff and Willy. Biff hates Willy for betraying his mother, but still loves him deeply for the love and affection Willy lavished on him. He is furious with himself for being unable to remove what he considers this yoke of love, and this exacerbates his antagonism toward Willy.

It is said that Biff’s life is ruined after discovering that Willy is a philanderer. Certainly, it is a tremendous setback, but there are other factors at work here. His innate nature plus his prior experiences and conditioning are of major importance. It is not the discovery of the event itself that causes Biff to give up and leaves him unable to cope with the experience.