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connielane at 11:08am on 24/08/2011 under doctor who
connielane at 11:08am on 24/08/2011 under doctor whoFinished with Series 5 now, and as I wait for the Series 6 to download from iTunes, I need to give a shout-out to what may prove to be my favorite Doctor Who episode and one of my favorite hours of television, period. If you've never watched an episode of the show, I'd highly recommend Vincent and the Doctor as a one-off. It's on Netflix Instant in HD, and it doesn't spoil anything (there are a couple of little references that would require more context, but they don't affect the story much at all).
There have been a few previous episodes that focused on artists, all of the writerly variety - Dickens, Shakespeare, Agatha Christie - and they all seem to need to say something about the legacy of each of their subjects. Probably my favorite part of the Dickens episode is when Simon Callow's Dickens hopefully asks the Doctor how long his books last and the Doctor answers "Forever." And Ten showing Donna the copy of Christie's Death in the Clouds with the print date 5,000,000,000 AD was a similar moment. But neither of those compared to the end of Vincent and the Doctor, written by Richard Curtis (of Love, Actually fame).
Most historical figures in Doctor Who (again, just judging from the new series) are never made aware by the show's time traveling heroes of their ultimate impact on history. It's dangerous for most of them to know, because that knowledge might change their behavior and hence change history. But Vincent Van Gogh, in this episode, is a special case. In less than a year from when he meets the Doctor and Amy, he will commit suicide, putting an end to the pain that made his art so beautiful but also drove him mad. We see throughout the episode that people laugh at him and his paintings. Children throw things at him. Everyone thinks his work is worthless, and he seems to agree - setting mugs on his paintings like they're coasters and staining them, painting over one of them so he can sketch something else, even trying to give perhaps his most famous self portrait away and thinking that the Doctor passes on the offer because he just doesn't like it (when obviously it's because the painting belongs to history).
Before we get to the big emotional wallop, there's another beautiful scene where Vincent, the Doctor, and Amy lie in a field and stargaze. He tries to explain to them how it looks to him, and the sky suddenly morphs into his most famous painting. It may be the closest anyone could ever come to visually portraying how Van Gogh could look at the real sky and see "Starry Night." The sunflower scene is also beautiful, and I think the knowledge that this episode was coming up must have influenced the decision to film all the new episodes in HD. It's stunning!
And then there's this scene, where the Doctor takes Vincent aboard the TARDIS and brings him to Paris in 2010, to the Musee d'Orsey, so that he can see how beloved his paintings are going to be. The song choice is amazing, and I love the little moment when he gets distracted by the Monet, and when he steps into the frame with the self portrait in the background, which emphasizes the uncanny resemblance of the actor to Van Gogh. The video below is actually a review, but skip to 4:50 for Bill Nighy's wonderful speech. The closing comments from the reviewer are rather nice, too.
Sadly, this little trip does not change the fact that less than a year later, Van Gogh would still be dead by his own hand. But we're told in the beginning of the episode that this was his most prolific period, and it's a lovely thought that, at least in the context of this fantastical story, discovering that his work meant something to people was the cause.
There have been a few previous episodes that focused on artists, all of the writerly variety - Dickens, Shakespeare, Agatha Christie - and they all seem to need to say something about the legacy of each of their subjects. Probably my favorite part of the Dickens episode is when Simon Callow's Dickens hopefully asks the Doctor how long his books last and the Doctor answers "Forever." And Ten showing Donna the copy of Christie's Death in the Clouds with the print date 5,000,000,000 AD was a similar moment. But neither of those compared to the end of Vincent and the Doctor, written by Richard Curtis (of Love, Actually fame).
Most historical figures in Doctor Who (again, just judging from the new series) are never made aware by the show's time traveling heroes of their ultimate impact on history. It's dangerous for most of them to know, because that knowledge might change their behavior and hence change history. But Vincent Van Gogh, in this episode, is a special case. In less than a year from when he meets the Doctor and Amy, he will commit suicide, putting an end to the pain that made his art so beautiful but also drove him mad. We see throughout the episode that people laugh at him and his paintings. Children throw things at him. Everyone thinks his work is worthless, and he seems to agree - setting mugs on his paintings like they're coasters and staining them, painting over one of them so he can sketch something else, even trying to give perhaps his most famous self portrait away and thinking that the Doctor passes on the offer because he just doesn't like it (when obviously it's because the painting belongs to history).
Before we get to the big emotional wallop, there's another beautiful scene where Vincent, the Doctor, and Amy lie in a field and stargaze. He tries to explain to them how it looks to him, and the sky suddenly morphs into his most famous painting. It may be the closest anyone could ever come to visually portraying how Van Gogh could look at the real sky and see "Starry Night." The sunflower scene is also beautiful, and I think the knowledge that this episode was coming up must have influenced the decision to film all the new episodes in HD. It's stunning!
And then there's this scene, where the Doctor takes Vincent aboard the TARDIS and brings him to Paris in 2010, to the Musee d'Orsey, so that he can see how beloved his paintings are going to be. The song choice is amazing, and I love the little moment when he gets distracted by the Monet, and when he steps into the frame with the self portrait in the background, which emphasizes the uncanny resemblance of the actor to Van Gogh. The video below is actually a review, but skip to 4:50 for Bill Nighy's wonderful speech. The closing comments from the reviewer are rather nice, too.
Sadly, this little trip does not change the fact that less than a year later, Van Gogh would still be dead by his own hand. But we're told in the beginning of the episode that this was his most prolific period, and it's a lovely thought that, at least in the context of this fantastical story, discovering that his work meant something to people was the cause.
enthralled
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