Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) fails as a preacher activist in a coal mining town. He returns home. He struggles against his father and his love Kay rejects him. He takes care of the homely Christine and her baby but she leaves him due to his obsessive painting. All the while, he diligently works on his art supported by his brother Theo van Gogh (James Donald). He befriends fellow artist Paul Gauguin (Anthony Quinn) and the two live together to paint. However the partnership doesn't last and he falls into a depression.

Kirk Douglas is fine but the first half lacks drama. It's a simple recitation of his life with little tension. It tries to fill the blandness with Kirk's narration. The paintings are interesting and beautifully colorful. The movie gets better in the second half with the arrival of Anthony Quinn. The two artists' companionship has some compelling tension. The movie improves a bit at that point.

"Lust for Life", Vincente Minnelli's rich interpretation of Irving Stone's Vincent Van Gogh bio-novel, is a film both compelling and repelling; in delving into the psyche of the artist (unforgettably portrayed by Kirk Douglas),one can see an untrained, unbridled genius smashing convention to open viewers' eyes to a world defined by passion; yet in doing so, we share in the growing nightmares and agony of his creative mind, teetering toward the madness that would destroy him, and it is an unsettling experience, to be sure!

This is a film so rich in visual imagery (with a Technicolor 'palette' that attempts to recreate Van Gogh's view of his world),that it demands repeated viewings, just to savor the details. From wheat fields 'aflame' in color, to night skies that nearly writhe in waves of darkness, the elemental nature of the artist's vision is spectacularly captured. And in experiencing the world through his eyes, the loving, yet uncomprehending concern of his brother (James Donald),and more hedonistic, shallow patronizing, and gradual disgust of fellow artist Paul Gauguin (Anthony Quinn, in his Oscar-winning performance),become elemental 'barriers', as well. Van Gogh wants to 'speak', but no one can understand his 'language', not even the artist, himself!

Kirk Douglas never plunged as deeply into a portrayal as he did, in "Lust for Life", and the experience nearly crushed him, as he related in his autobiography, "Ragman's Son". His total immersion in the role SHOULD have won him an Oscar (Yul Brynner won, instead, for "The King and I"),and his bitterness and disappointment at the snub would haunt him, to this day. With the passage of time, his performance has only increased in luster and stature, and it certainly shows an actor at the top of his form!

"Lust for Life" is an unforgettable experience, not to be missed!

Vincent Van Gogh was Kirk Douglas's finest role, and I believe no other actor could have bettered Douglas's performance. I have always wondered how much Kirk identified with Van Gogh, and his state of mind.