MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 3,491 this week

Lust for Life (1956)

7.3
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.3/10 from 4,881 users  
Reviews: 58 user | 31 critic

The life of brilliant but tortured artist Vincent van Gogh.

Director:

Writers:

(screenplay), (novel)
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 2005 titles created 4 weeks ago
 
a list of 309 titles created 27 May 2011
 
a list of 3595 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 250 titles created 23 Apr 2011
 
a list of 1735 titles created 10 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Lust for Life (1956)

Lust for Life (1956) on IMDb 7.3/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Lust for Life.
Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Biography | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

A surly convicted murderer held in permanent isolation redeems himself when he becomes a renowned bird expert.

Director: John Frankenheimer
Stars: Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, Thelma Ritter
Biography | Drama | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

The story of Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarriage.

Director: Fred Zinnemann
Stars: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Leo McKern
Biography | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

The story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.

Director: Arthur Penn
Stars: Anne Bancroft, Victor Jory, Inga Swenson
Lenny (1974)
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

The story of acerbic 1960s comic Lenny Bruce, whose groundbreaking, no-holds-barred style and social commentary was often deemed by the Establishment as too obscene for the public.

Director: Bob Fosse
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner
Pollock (2000)
Biography | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

A film about the life and career of the American painter, Jackson Pollock.

Director: Ed Harris
Stars: Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden, Tom Bower
My Left Foot (1989)
Biography | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

The story of Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy. He learned to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.

Director: Jim Sheridan
Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Alison Whelan
Biography | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

After a brilliant but asocial mathematician accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn to the nightmarish.

Director: Ron Howard
Stars: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly
Biography | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

A man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he didn't commit imprisons his father as well; a British lawyer helps fight for their freedom.

Director: Jim Sheridan
Stars: Alison Crosbie, Daniel Day-Lewis, Philip King
Biography | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

The last days of Frankenstein director James Whale are explored.

Director: Bill Condon
Stars: Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave
Biography | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case.

Director: John Ford
Stars: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver
The Aviator (2004)
Biography | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career, from the late 1920s to the mid-1940s.

Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale
Chaplin (1992)
Biography | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A film about the troubled and controversial life of the master comedy filmmaker.

Director: Richard Attenborough
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Geraldine Chaplin, Paul Rhys
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
Pamela Brown ...
Christine
...
Niall MacGinnis ...
Roulin
Noel Purcell ...
Anton Mauve
...
Madge Kennedy ...
Jill Bennett ...
Willemien
...
Dr. Peyron
Laurence Naismith ...
Dr. Bosman
...
Jeanette Sterke ...
Kay
Toni Gerry ...
Johanna
Edit

Storyline

Vincent Van Gogh is the archetypical tortured artistic genius. His obsession with painting, combined with mental illness, propels him through an unhappy life full of failures and unrewarding relationships. He fails at being a preacher to coal miners. He fails in his relationships with women. He earns some respect among his fellow painters, especially Paul Gauguin, but he does not get along with them. He only manages to sell one painting in his lifetime. The one constant good in his life is his brother Theo, who is unwavering in his moral and financial support. Written by John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

The best-seller comes to the screen...the drama of a man who lived with insatiable passion. See more »

Genres:

Biography | Drama

Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

26 December 1956 (Sweden)  »

Also Known As:

La vie passionnée de Vincent van Gogh  »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Perspecta Sound encoding) (35 mm optical prints) (Westrex Recording System)| (35 mm magnetic prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

(Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Average Shot Length (ASL) = 15 seconds See more »

Goofs

Camera shadow falls across Ducrucq as Van Gogh finds him dead. See more »

Quotes

Paul Gauguin: If it's one thing I despise, it's emotionalism in painting.
See more »

Connections

Spoofed in The Carol Burnett Show: Episode #6.10 (1972) See more »

Soundtracks

"Polka des poulettes"
(uncredited)
Music by Aman Comès
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
A fantastic biographical movie
15 October 1998 | by (West Indies) – See all my reviews

Kurt Douglas as Vincent Van Gogh is absolutely amazing. He captures the frenetic passion with which Van Gogh painted. The movie has all the main influencing factors of his life and all of the master's difficulties, trials and illnesses.

The film shows Van Gogh's love of painting. He once wrote to his brother that it was impossible to see the world and not want to paint it. He saw the goodness of the simple people and showed his sympathy for them. Van Gogh's style showed the energy of nature and the toil of the poor. Van Gogh comes through as a man desperately trying to paint enough of the beauty he saw, at one moment bristling with positive energy and at the next unsure of himself and afraid of being always alone.

I was touched by Lust for Life and could not help finding sympathy with Van Gogh despite hs arguing with other painters and and falling in love with an ill prostitute and his societal awkwardness and so on. He came through not as a misfit really, but as one who was not meant for society, and a man to whom society wore upon.

The movie is excellent and moving and the end is truly beautiful in its tragedy. It is impossible to mention all the aspects of the movie I liked but this movie can be seen based on Douglas's performance alone.


12 of 14 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Accurate? Boldsoliloquy
DVD Available Subhashisc
Help me to understand some sentences in the film hsheng
I've read about Van Gogh's life. It's a very sad, tragic tale. davbot
To anyone in France or who has visited Arles MustangCJ428
vote for it on DVD big pooh
Discuss Lust for Life (1956) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?