Canvas is inspired by the letters Van Gogh wrote to his younger brother. The movie starts with a woman receiving a cache of letters and then reading them to a comatose man lying in bed. This scene is in black and white.
The movie then switches to color and shifts to the beginning of the story.
Casey Chapman plays Stephan Ormand, an abstract artist struggling to find a theory to guide his work. Mackenzie Wiglesworth plays his live-in girlfriend and model, Christina.
Stephan is obsessive, compulsive, antisocial, and a failure. Christina is sparkling and bright and lights up the screen. Michael Peters plays Stephan's younger brother Thomas although he doesn't have much to do. He represents Van Gogh's younger brother. The letters were written by Stephan to Thomas.
Stephan is totally self-absorbed and often crazy and Chapman captures that. . At one point, he decides that words - whether written, spoken or seen on products - needed to be banished from their studio so he could focus on the visual alone. That leaves Christina having to guess the contents of cans of food because the labels had all been removed. Stephan is rarely a sympathetic character and Chapman's great acting makes sure of that. Christina supports Stephan and her bright personality and beauty brings sparkle to the screen. How she stays with Stephan for so long beggars the imagination. There is some male and female nudity and one disturbing scene before the movie shifts back to black and white. The ending leaves a lot to be desired.
The photography is very good and the direction stays on point. The trip north to the lake showed off some beautiful scenery but most of the rest of the movie was set indoors.
I can't say we enjoyed it as a romantic comedy. It was more about the struggles of a obsessive artist trying to gain recognition and failing, and his impact on those who loved him. In its way it reflects the life of Van Gogh, and it made us look up his biography. I'd suggest checking out Van Gogh's biography before watching the movie. The movie is not a biography of Van Gogh but his tortured life speaks to facets of the movie. Canvas is definitely worth watching.
