Willem Dafoe gave us many amazing performances throughout his decades-long career, but he’s getting ready for the biggest challenge yet. He’s bringing tortured artist Vincent van Gogh to life in the upcoming biopic At Eternity’s Gate.
This exciting project carries the name of the painting Van Gogh created a few months before committing suicide. Director Julian Schnabel had a pretty unorthodox approach to this project, and Dafoe’s casting is a case in point.
Unlike the actor playing him, the troubled painter was only 37 when he died, but At Eternity’s Gate isn’t exactly aiming for historical accuracy. It’s trying to reflect how the artist may have seen himself at the time of his death, and that’s why Schnabel took many creative liberties along the way.
“This is a film about painting and a painter and their relationship to infinity. It is told by a painter. It contains what I felt were essential moments in his life; this is not the official history – it’s my version. One that I hope could make you closer to him,” explained Schnabel.
Film already premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it received positive reviews and started generating Oscar buzz. It will also screen at the New York Film Festival, before heading to the theaters on November 16.
