Willem Dafoe was named Best Actor by the Venice Film Festival for his intense and poignant portrayal of Vincent van Gogh, in this immersive and meditative drama from artist-filmmaker Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Before Night Falls, Basquiat). Focusing on the last few years of the artist’s life and filming on actual locations, Schnabel eschews traditional biography in order to explore the essence of being an artist and capture the vividness of feeling that goes into the act of painting. Financially supported by his brother Theo (Rupert Friend) and weathering a rocky friendship with fellow artist Paul Gauguin (Oscar Isaac), Van Gogh is drawn to the natural world while increasingly feeling alienated from society. With Mads Mikkelsen, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner. Rated PG-13. Writers: Jean-Claude Carrière, Julian Schnabel, Louise Kugelberg. Director: Julian Schnabel. (UK/US/France 2018) 111 min.