Lust for Life (1956)

Vincent Minnelli's Lust for Life (1956) is the story of the artist Vincent Van Gogh, from his time at a Dutch seminary school (Van Gogh's father was a clergyman) to his death by a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a northwestern commune of Paris.

Van Gogh is played by American actor Kirk Douglas, whose performance is so gut-wrenching that I was tempted to call a crisis line. Not to make light of Van Gogh's pain -- he clearly had mental health issues (PTS from his parish work in a mining town?) -- but to speak with someone who, as in Al-Anon, understands what it is to be affected by those who suffer from mental health issues.

The grab up top is from the scene where an insensitive mob (Is there any other kind?) gather outside Van Gogh's house after hearing he cut off his ear(lobe). They insist on seeing him, and eventually Van Gogh comes to the window for a writhing.

So much is conveyed in Van Gogh's wordless waist-up dance. The only thing closest to it is Quasimodo peeking out of a cathedral window in the 1939 version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. What Van Gogh is going through is the internal equivalent of Quasimodo's physical appearance. But poor Quasimodo -- all his life he has suffered on both sides of his body.