Robert Gulaczyk

In Loving Vincent (2017), Robert Gulaczyk’s van Gogh is seen through moving paint. His resemblance to the painter helped secure the part, but he also supplied the live-action reference performance and the voice. The acting is part of the image, even when the brushwork gets most of our attention. He prepared with van Gogh’s letters, looking for the ordinary person rather than setting out to demonstrate genius. We value that approach, particularly in a film where the technique already gives us so much to look at.

That international breakthrough followed years of theatre work, which helps explain the emphasis on physical expression. Television roles followed, including Paweł Piotrowski in Znaki (Signs) (2018), before he shifted his focus towards screen work around 2021. The Peasants (2023) brought another painted lead, Antek Boryna, and a return to the same directors. His aim here was to make a flawed man understandable without insisting that we like him. That gives us a reason to follow Gulaczyk beyond the van Gogh likeness.

Loving Vincent nevertheless sets limits on what we can admire. Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman have Douglas Booth’s Armand Roulin investigate van Gogh’s death, and the questioning occupies more attention than it earns. We grew impatient with it because the brushstrokes were rewarding to watch and the investigation was so stiff. Gulaczyk’s preparation cannot make that story move faster or give its questions more weight. We would recommend the film to someone interested in painting, with a clear warning about the pace.

There is a further difficulty with this kind of work: physical expression has to survive the layers of paint. Performances in The Peasants can feel pushed as a result, so making a gesture more emphatic has its limits. We should not credit Gulaczyk with every pleasure of the animation or blame him for every stiffness. For a closer look at him, we would welcome more roles where we can watch his face without also admiring somebody else’s brushwork.