Loving Vincent (2017)

1. Here comes trouble.

2. It's Roulin, isn't it?

3. He's always up for trouble, that one.

4. Whoa!

5. - Blimey! He felt that. - That's for my father.

6. He packs a punch, doesn't he? Show's over.

7. - What's going on here, then? - Ah, sir...

8. Was that Armand I saw you fighting with?

9. - Aye, sir. - Hmm. Over what?

10. Over Crazy Red. That painter guy you used to know.

11. Really?

12. - He dropped that, sir. - Hmm.

13. I'll take it in.

14. At ease, soldier.

15. Causing trouble again, I see.

16. - You dropped your letter outside. - It's not my letter.

17. It's Vincent's.

18. Mr Theo Van Gogh. That's Vincent's brother, isn't it?

19. Yeah. Vincent left it behind.

20. His old landlord, Geno, was having a clear-out and found it.

21. So, he gave it to my father, and Father told me I have to deliver it.

22. Like it's my business.

23. Look, my job is to bash metal into shape.

24. Not deliver letters.

25. Hmm. Help yourself, why don't you?

26. Well, he doesn't need it, does he?

27. I don't see the point in delivering a dead man's letter.

28. Your father just wants to pay his respects.

29. What for? What did that nobody ever do for us?

30. Making my family hated

31. when my old man refused to sign that petition.

32. - To throw him out of the town— - I signed it!

33. And that's well and good. He was mad.

34. He wasn't. He was an interesting man.

35. Things only got strange when that friend of his, Gauguin, came.

36. Vincent was all enthusiastic

37. for his yellow house to become this hostel for painters.

38. And Gauguin would be the master.

39. Just like you asked.

40. Where's the chair?

41. Ah, yeah... Perfect.

42. But when he finally came,

43. they quickly went from firm friends to being at each other's throats.

44. There is no studio!

45. It's paid for by your brother. There is no studio.

46. - There is. - Best off if I leave.

47. No. No.

48. No, you can't go.

49. - No, you can't go! - Calm down, Vincent.

50. - Gaby. - Hello, Vincent.

51. I brought you a gift.

52. Oh. Have you been fighting?

53. - Take good care of it. - Ah, sweet.

54. Are you alright?

55. Interesting man?

56. That's not how I remember him.

57. Vincent.

58. Armand.

59. Wait.

60. That nutcase has cut off his ear.

61. - Your dad sewing it back on? - No, he's helping.

62. Figures. One drunken crazy helping another.

63. Go on, say it! Say it again!

64. Evening, gents. Have you seen my son?

65. Ah, Mr Roulin! Yes, you'll find him inside.

66. He's meant to be on a train to Paris.

67. Don't look like he's planning on going anywhere right now.

68. - We'll soon see about that. - Ooh, he's in trouble.

69. The boy looks for it.

70. Evening, Joseph.

71. Why can't you just post it?

72. I did. The letter got returned as undeliverable.

73. If your postal service can't find him, what makes you think I can?

74. Use your initiative, son!

75. An important man like Mr Theo van Gogh, ask around.

76. But what do I say when I find him?

77. It's customary to start with "I'm sorry for your loss."

78. Let's get you sobered up.

79. I can't go, it's too late.

80. You're to convey deepest condolences from myself,

81. your mother and your brother.

82. Oh, and don't forget little Marcelle. She was his friend, too.

83. She was ten months old.

84. Babes are like animals, son.

85. They can know the heart of a man just by the sight of them.

86. Sure they can.

87. They're less fickle than grown-ups. Just look at Ginoux.

88. He takes Vincent's money with a smile for a whole year

89. and then signs a petition condemning him?

90. Hey, mind you say that Ginoux had the letter for two years.

91. I don't want Mr Theo thinking we've been sitting on it.

92. Tell him how Ginoux didn't even bother handing it over to me

93. until he heard that Vincent had—

94. Killed himself?

95. Why do you find that so hard to believe?

96. You saw what happened here.

97. He had a breakdown. It happens to people.

98. If they're weak.

99. Live longer.

100. You'll see.

101. Life can even bring down the strong.

102. After the ear, nobody would even give him a chance.

103. Even kids were tormenting him.

104. Get out of there! Go on. Knock his hat off. Go on.

105. Get out of here!

106. We are the champions! We are the kings!

107. I call it weak.

108. Letting kids chase him

109. into the nut house.

110. And his neighbours.

111. And the police.

112. And the mayor.

113. And the whole town.

114. Against an ill man.

115. He even checked himself into Saint-Rémy to get better, and so he did.

116. He got discharged, cured.

117. Doesn't mean he stayed cured, does it?

118. "I feel absolutely calm and in a normal state."

119. This is what he writes me, six weeks before he's dead.

120. How does a man go from being "absolutely calm"

121. to being suicidal in six weeks?

122. It's sad.

123. I get that.

124. But what good will delivering that letter do now?

125. They were very close.

126. Vincent would write his brother every day.

127. I know, I'm the one who collected the letters.

128. If it were me, I'd want it.

129. If it was you, heavens forbid...

130. If you had died

131. and there was a letter out there that you had sent to me, I'd want it.

132. Wouldn't you want it, if it was me?

133. Whoa. Lunatic.

134. I heard you were Vincent's paint supplier,

135. so I thought you might know Theo.

136. We need a drink, I think.

137. It's brandy. Do take a seat.

138. He wasn't at the address we've got.

139. The guy there said you might know.

140. I'm afraid you'll never deliver that letter to Theo Van Gogh.

141. Oh, I see. Well... how come?

142. "Two hearts, one mind."

143. That's what Vincent told me.

144. Maybe that was the case after all.

145. Because after Vincent died, Theo went into sharp decline.

146. Can I get you something, my love?

147. He'd been poorly before, but...

148. Would you like that?

149. Vincent's death destroyed him.

150. He had actually been with him a whole day at the end.

151. But Vincent insisted they use the time to discuss life, not death.

152. And no suicide note, either.

153. So, it stayed a mystery.

154. And Theo just kept asking why.

155. Six months after we buried Vincent...

156. Theo was dead too.

157. Wow, the two of them.

158. So, how did Vincent die?

159. He shot himself.

160. In the fields above Auvers.

161. By his easel, doing what he loved. Painting to the end.

162. Do you know why?

163. No.

164. Theo thought his unhappiness went right back to childhood.

165. He tried so hard to fit into his family.

166. But he never succeeded in this.

167. Vincent told me he was the oldest.

168. But not the first.

169. There was another Vincent, his stillborn older brother.

170. He thought that boy was the perfect Vincent,

171. that he could never measure up to in his mother's eyes.

172. He struggled to be what they wanted him to be.

173. He joined his uncle's art dealership and was thrown out in disgrace.

174. He tried for his father's profession, the church.

175. But the pastor exams were too hard for him,

176. so he took a job as a lowly missionary.

177. He managed to get sacked, even from that.

178. Yet another dead end.

179. But Theo says he believes in him.

180. And that if Vincent will fight for himself,

181. he will fight alongside him.

182. And that was it.

183. Vincent picks up a brush for the first time at 28.

184. And with Theo's support, there is no stopping him.

185. So what happened then?

186. Paris happened.

187. He came here, of course. They all do.

188. Everyone does.

189. Monet, Toulouse, Signac, Bernard, Manet. Everybody.

190. Because everything that happens in art happens here.

191. And where do they all buy their paints?

192. Gentlemen!

193. Père Tanguy's, of course!

194. - Waitress! - A drink!

195. - Cheers! - We'll soon have him cured.

196. We'll keep that, thank you!

197. An ego like no other, I grant you.

198. But a weekend painter. Look at him. Always drawing.

199. What is this? Your salon entry?

200. - Which way up is it? - Grow up, Henri.

201. - Oh, I forgot, you can't. - Henri, behave.

202. - I was just being helpful. - You're being vile.

203. The vile doth beguile.

204. For many artists, Paris is the final destination, but not for him.

205. It was a stop-over to learn what he needed to learn.

206. And then he was off in search of his own path.

207. Put him to sleep. Put him down, it's the kindest thing.

208. I saw him once more after two years.

209. - He was calmer. More assured. - Thank you, Père.

210. Take good care.

211. And I thought, "This is a man whose story will end well."

212. His star finally rising.

213. His revolution won.

214. So, think how shocking it was

215. to be standing over Vincent's coffin just six weeks later.

216. So sad.

217. For many, he died a martyr for art.

218. - But for me it seems odd. - Why?

219. In only eight years,

220. he had travelled from amateur to an artist of influence.

221. Unbelievable.

222. Monet declared him the shining star of the Independent Artists' Fair.

223. And he was cured, according to his doctor.

224. Doctor...

225. Gachet.

226. Who had looked after Vincent in Auvers.

227. I met him at the funeral.

228. There were just a few artists from Paris.

229. And him.

230. You'd have thought he was Vincent's brother.

231. He was the one who made the speech, and he cried all the way through it.

232. And an hour later he was running around

233. taking Vincent's best paintings off the wall,

234. as if they were his.

235. And they were. His "fee" for treating Vincent.

236. It seemed odd that the doctor had Theo's full confidence.

237. I understand he's still close to the Van Gogh family.

238. Maybe you should ask him why Vincent did it.

239. It's my father who wanted to know why.

240. I just wanted to deliver this letter, for him.

241. The Van Goghs are only ghosts in Paris now.

242. I'm afraid you're going to have to take this letter back to your father.

243. With my condolences.

244. Dear Father...

245. Looks like I'm continuing my journey.

246. I need to find a new recipient as, unfortunately, Theo is dead.

247. There is this doctor, who I believe is the person to entrust the letter to.

248. So I'm going to Auvers.

249. Make some excuse to my boss, will you?

250. Oh! Morning, ma'am.

251. - Yes? - I'm here to see Doctor Gachet.

252. Really? Do you happen to have an appointment?

253. No.

254. I have a letter from Vincent Van Gogh,

255. a friend of my father's from Arles.

256. Do you now?

257. You know he's actually passed away?

258. Yes.

259. The doctor's in Paris. He won't be back till tomorrow.

260. I'll make sure the doctor gets the letter.

261. No, I... I'd rather deliver it in person.

262. I want to ask the doctor about Vincent.

263. Well...

264. I can tell you about him.

265. - He was evil. - Is that a medical opinion?

266. I could tell at first glance it would end in trouble.

267. He had these... bewildered eyes

268. in which there was something insane. Something which you dare not look.

269. He's just straight through at the back, in the garden, actually.

270. Verdomme.

271. Well, nothing has been the same since he came here.

272. I'll get you a message,

273. tell you when the Doctor can see you.

274. Where are you in residence?

275. Where did Vincent reside?

276. Oh, at the Ravoux Inn.

277. Ah, well, you can find me there.

278. No, you don't want to stay there. It's a hole.

279. Oh. Doctor booked him somewhere proper, but...

280. Probably suited him better in a hole.

281. Well, still, that's where you can send word.

282. You're not going to stir things up again, are you?

283. We've had quite enough weeping over that nutcase in this household.

284. You looking for something?

285. Looking for the owner.

286. Speaking to her.

287. You're the owner?

288. Well, my parents are, but they're visiting my auntie.

289. So, I guess for the next two days, I'm the proprietress.

290. That's a fine dress.

291. Suitable attire for a proprietress.

292. I... I don't get to wear it that often when my father's here.

293. He's always got errands for me.

294. I know what that's like.

295. Do you fancy something?

296. Wouldn't say no to a... hot coffee.

297. So, what brings you to Auvers?

298. A friend of my father's, Vincent Van Gogh.

299. We just found out he killed himself.

300. He stayed here.

301. I know.

302. Were you here when it happened?

303. It was so dreadful.

304. I serve the tenants' dinner at seven.

305. And, er, he wasn't there.

306. He came later, though.

307. But something was very wrong.

308. Mr Vincent? Vincent. Are you alright, sir?

309. - Father went after him. - What happened?

310. Vincent? What's happened, Vincent?

311. Are you alright, eh?

312. Oh, my God!

313. What have you done?

314. I tried to kill myself.

315. Dr Gachet was called.

316. He didn't even say one word to Vincent.

317. The two of them just... just looked at each other like...

318. Like two angry wolves.

319. And Vincent's lying on this bed and he's got a bullet in his belly

320. and he's, he's crying out in pain, asking when someone would remove it.

321. And Dr Gachet, an ex-military doctor...

322. I mean, he should know how to remove a bullet.

323. He does nothing.

324. He just decided the case was hopeless, and... and left.

325. The next morning, rumours about Vincent had spread all over town.

326. And at eight o'clock Gendarme Rigaumon comes knocking.

327. What are you doing? Can't you leave the man in peace?

328. Can't you see he's not well?

329. Just being thorough, Mr Ravoux, that's all.

330. Where's the gun?

331. I have no idea.

332. No idea.

333. My father sent him away.

334. He said Rigaumon is the last person a dying man should have to see.

335. Mr Theo came in the afternoon and he...

336. He comes in yelling, "What happened, how?"

337. You know, that was the terrible thing, isn't it?

338. No one really knew.

339. And then, in a way, it was normal and calm.

340. And, you know, I honestly thought it was all going to be fine.

341. If only I could have been one of them.

342. But, as the night came,

343. a fever in him rose and he was getting weaker.

344. And about half past one...

345. Theo comes downstairs.

346. But we all knew that it was over.

347. And Vincent was dead.

348. What do you think happened? Did you see it coming?

349. He was happy here. I honestly thought he was.

350. You know Dr Gachet tried to get him to stay somewhere else?

351. But no.

352. And we like our place.

353. No, don't do that! You're going to ruin your dress.

354. - Oh. What are you like? - You'll get messy. Hello.

355. - Do you want a room? - Depends on the cost.

356. - Come on, you. - How much is the room?

357. Depends on the room.

358. Foreigner. Another foreigner.

359. He liked us.

360. And we liked him. He was a nice, quiet man.

361. - Sure. - What, you didn't like him?

362. It's not that I—

363. He could do unusual things because he was painting, but...

364. Otherwise, he was normal.

365. - Unusual how? - Er...

366. On his first day, I remember because it was a day like today,

367. this big storm broke.

368. Vincent, you'll get wet.

369. And everyone's rushing for shelter and I saw him.

370. He's just standing there, in the rain, in his suit.

371. And I thought, you know, it must be first-day excitement, but...

372. No. He was always like that.

373. Always painting, day in, day out, no matter what the weather.

374. I heard he was close to the doctor.

375. What, Dr Gachet?

376. No, I wouldn't have said that.

377. He kept rather to himself.

378. He was definitely close to his brother.

379. Judging by the amount of letters.

380. I know. My... my dad was his postman.

381. Oh, so you know. I was wondering when he slept.

382. Painting all day, writing these long letters.

383. Always reading these fat books.

384. I guess you could say he was well organised.

385. - Vincent? - Yeah. You could set your watch by him.

386. Painting from eight until five.

387. You'd think he was going off to a regular job.

388. He went all over.

389. Chaponval, the fields, the woods, the river.

390. He really liked the river.

391. - Speak to the boatman. - Watch your step.

392. - He'll tell you. - Oh, dear. I'm in.

393. I made it.

394. - Enjoy yourselves, ladies. - Bye.

395. Armand Roulin.

396. - Friend of the late Vincent Van Gogh. - Pleasure.

397. I heard he liked to hang around around the river.

398. Vincent? Yeah. Yeah, he used to come down here,

399. even before dawn, to catch some special kind of light.

400. Now, I don't know much about light-catching,

401. but I know you can set your eyes on a lot of life down here,

402. if you catch my drift.

403. Good to know.

404. He didn't talk so much.

405. Mostly just sat around watching.

406. Sometimes painting.

407. This one time, it was just us. Me fishing, him painting.

408. Now, it wasn't as peaceful as it sounds.

409. He made all sorts of noises while he painted.

410. Puffing like a steam engine.

411. And then suddenly...

412. he was all silent.

413. And he looked so happy that this dirty crow was coming close.

414. Didn't seem to care that it ran off with his lunch.

415. And I thought to myself, how lonely is this guy

416. that even a thieving crow brightens up his day?

417. Later that summer he would hang around these rich boys

418. who threw big boating parties.

419. They always came with girls.

420. - Unruly ones, if you know what I mean. - Hey!

421. We could do with a bit of money. What's the pay?

422. Vincent seemed shy around them.

423. He never did have much luck with women.

424. You'd think. And then he comes here with the Gachet girl.

425. I saw her.

426. Pretty. In a porcelain sort of way.

427. Yeah, that's her. A real quiet type.

428. I've worked in this village since before the Gachets moved here

429. and I never got to speak a word with her.

430. Yet her and Vincent, they were...

431. They were chatting in that way.

432. You know, like, speaking to each other was the most exciting thing ever.

433. All I could see was just your foot.

434. God knows what she saw in him.

435. He must have been twice her age.

436. And next to her, he looked like a tramp.

437. You think there was something going on?

438. They said they were here to paint.

439. But they took a boat. Couples often do.

440. But I will tell you this.

441. Vincent, he looked like he was alright.

442. Then he comes here with a girl who, I reckon, was out of his league,

443. and the next thing I hear, he's killed himself.

444. Maybe you should talk to her.

445. I'm not sure their housekeeper would let me.

446. That one.

447. Spends her afternoons at the church.

448. She's some kind of warden there.

449. She certainly wards me off.

450. Here. You must be thirsty.

451. - On the house. - How nice you are.

452. - Won't your dad mind? - He's not here to mind.

453. I tell you what. I'll have this one, if you let me buy one for you.

454. Afternoon, chaps. Who's winning?

455. I was wondering, were Vincent and Marguerite friends?

456. Boatman said they were friendly.

457. Well, that would explain

458. why she takes flowers to his grave every day.

459. Ooh, and it might explain that big argument between him and the doctor.

460. What argument?

461. More than one person saw Vincent leave the doctor's place,

462. slamming the gate so hard it's a wonder it didn't come off its hinges.

463. But the housekeeper, she was going round

464. saying that Dr Gachet had stopped Vincent from seeing his daughter.

465. Dr Gachet's crazy protective over his daughter.

466. He doesn't want her tal—

467. - Where are you going? - To church!

468. God bless.

469. Oh. Glad to see you're honouring God.

470. Not like your friend.

471. My... father's friend.

472. You know Vincent actually did his ungodly act on a Sunday?

473. That's not the half of it.

474. I saw him that day.

475. I was on my way to church.

476. Laughing and joking with those Secretan boys.

477. Drinking, they were. Laughing at God.

478. Knowing what he was going to be doing on God's day.

479. And when I think what he put the poor doctor through...

480. Marching in with his brother like they were royalty.

481. Like it was his garden. Like they were his guests.

482. Well, his brother might have been dressed smart,

483. but he looked like he'd drop down dead before he made it to table.

484. I could see the fever in his eyes.

485. At first glance.

486. And the great artist himself.

487. Always skulking about.

488. Gobbling our food.

489. Just making messes in corners.

490. Oh. Well...

491. Mustn't keep our Lord waiting.

492. I wondered how long it would take you to come back.

493. He painted you, didn't he?

494. So, why are you here?

495. Where else would I be?

496. Oh, I don't know, let's see.

497. Sailing around the world?

498. Catching a thief? Chatting up a pretty girl?

499. Because I want to do something. For Vincent.

500. I'm sure there's a lot you can do for him,

501. now that he's dead.

502. I heard you take flowers to his grave every day.

503. Isn't that doing something for Vincent, even though he's dead?

504. Oh, that.

505. I just do that out of respect.

506. He was a great artist. He liked flowers.

507. Still... Seems real nice of you.

508. You must have been... friendly.

509. I wouldn't say so.

510. He was here to see Father.

511. He was his doctor and he became his friend.

512. It's hardly surprising. They were both artists.

513. They liked the same painters.

514. They understood each other.

515. When Father invited Vincent's brother and their family for Sunday lunch,

516. Vincent joked that my father was the third brother.

517. Cheers, everyone.

518. So, you were like one big family, then?

519. He painted here sometimes.

520. One more, I think.

521. Part of the treatment my father recommended.

522. But we didn't socialise.

523. So, when you went to the river, that wasn't socialising?

524. - The river? - Boatman says you took a boat together.

525. Said it looked like you knew each other pretty well.

526. People think they see all sort of things in this village.

527. Must have been some other girl.

528. I told you, I barely knew him.

529. It was Father he was here for.

530. They were like minds. They agreed on everything.

531. Everything? Really?

532. Ravoux girl said Vincent and Dr Gachet argued.

533. My, you really have been slumming it. I don't care for village gossip.

534. She said people saw Vincent storming out of here

535. not long before his death,

536. and your dad was running after him.

537. So what?

538. You think there was some argument with my father

539. and that's why Vincent is dead?

540. You think it's my father's fault, do you?

541. No, I didn't say that.

542. I think it would be best if you leave now.

543. Good day.

544. - Thank you. - Busy night?

545. Not really. There's your cheese.

546. How is your father, Ms Adeline?

547. He's well, thank you. Can I get you anything else?

548. - No, thank you. - Thank you, no.

549. Just busy enough not to have speak to me.

550. Well, if I did sit down for a drink,

551. I'd be wondering when you'd be running off somewhere more important.

552. Funny thing, that.

553. You actually gave me an idea.

554. The idea to confront Marguerite Gachet.

555. Oh, so you ran off to be with the lady of the manor?

556. How did that work out for you?

557. She told me she didn't know Vincent.

558. Hadn't barely exchanged more than a few formal words with him.

559. I told you, you can't believe a word the Gachets say.

560. I remember when Vincent moved in.

561. People were asking him if he was a relative of Gachet.

562. Maybe they were similar on the outside.

563. This is incredible.

564. They had the same red hair.

565. And that same sad look in his eyes.

566. I've never seen anything like it.

567. But on the inside they were chalk and cheese.

568. Vincent wasn't snobbish like Gachet.

569. He was really polite and kind.

570. Oh, hello, Germaine.

571. Up you go.

572. So, what shall we draw tonight?

573. A chicken, please. It might be saying something.

574. OK. A chicken.

575. - Skinny legs. Like you. - Fluffy tail, please.

576. Germaine. What are you doing out of bed?

577. She's no trouble.

578. - Come on. Back to bed. - I don't want to.

579. - She's no trouble. - I know.

580. I want my chicken.

581. Marguerite said the brother came here.

582. - Did you meet him? - No.

583. I heard he came at Gachet's invitation.

584. Vincent was always saying that they might come here.

585. Always checking if we had rooms at weekends.

586. But they never did come.

587. - So did Vincent visit them ever? - No.

588. You know, he'd spend hours on hours writing those letters to his brother

589. when... he could have just hopped on a train.

590. Oh, no. He did go once.

591. He said his brother's baby was ill.

592. But I don't think the visit went that well.

593. Why not?

594. The tea towels.

595. He said that canvasses were too expensive.

596. More.

597. So now he was only going to paint on these old rags.

598. He painted some pretty flowers,

599. but I don't think my father was that pleased.

600. But what's the brother got to do with tea towels?

601. I reckon they argued over money.

602. Because...

603. It was the brother that bought all Vincent's painting things.

604. I know, because of the last letter Vincent sent.

605. Adeline, wait.

606. The day before he killed himself.

607. When he handed it to me, he said it was urgent.

608. And, you know, I asked if there was anything wrong.

609. And he said he'd run out of paints and he placed a big order for some more

610. because he had lots of paintings planned.

611. Don't you think that's odd?

612. To place an order with his brother, if money was an issue between them,

613. and then to kill himself the next day?

614. Depends, you know, on how balanced he was.

615. All seemed fine with him.

616. I mean, something must have happened pretty suddenly

617. for him to become unbalanced.

618. Like what?

619. I don't know exactly what.

620. I'm sure it's got something to do with Gachet.

621. Do you remember his first day, that I told you about?

622. This letter's from then.

623. You know I can't read someone else's letter.

624. If it's open it's alright.

625. My dad's posting me up some money.

626. You can settle up when your money arrives.

627. That's very good of you.

628. This is where he lived?

629. And where he died.

630. Dear Theo and Jo.

631. It is really very beautiful here.

632. I feel I see the North all the better for my trip to the South.

633. Vincent, don't get wet!

634. I have settled down to some canvasses,

635. which I hope will go some way to recovering the costs of my stay.

636. Dr Gachet is... eccentric.

637. I don't know how he thinks he can cure me,

638. when he seems at least as sick as I am.

639. However, I still think that what I have is mostly a malady of the South

640. and that the return here will be enough to dissipate the whole thing.

641. The thing is...

642. The days seem like...

643. Seem like...

644. Seem like weeks.

645. The days seem like weeks to me.

646. I'll be very glad if, sometime from now,

647. you were to come here one Sunday with your family.

648. Very hearty handshakes.

649. Your loving Vincent.

650. What the...? Oi.

651. Oi! Come here!

652. Dear Father, I'm still waiting to see the doctor.

653. I could have just given the letter to the housekeeper or his daughter.

654. But something happened with Vincent in that house.

655. I can tell.

656. I want to ask the doctor about it.

657. I've decided to retrace the path

658. that Vincent took with his easel that day.

659. Because what I've been told doesn't add up.

660. And strange things are happening to me too.

661. But don't worry. Nothing that I can't handle.

662. People here are on edge about Vincent. About what happened to him.

663. Everyone has a different story.

664. Tanguy, the paint supplier, said Vincent shot himself in the fields.

665. So does the girl from the inn.

666. It seems a very long way for him to have walked

667. with a mortal wound.

668. And, I wonder, if he wanted to kill himself,

669. why didn't he just pick up the gun and finish the job?

670. Did he change his mind?

671. Did he want to live after all?

672. No, I can see you.

673. It were you last night. Weren't it?

674. Oh, not again.

675. Can I help?

676. If you can tell me where to find a funny-looking boy

677. with hair all over the place?

678. - I want to wring his neck. - Oh, that'll be my nephew.

679. I'm sorry, he's a bit simple.

680. Please, don't pay him any mind. He's harmless.

681. He was following me, yesterday and today.

682. That's not like him.

683. Did you do something to him?

684. No. I'm just delivering a letter for a friend of mine, Vincent Van Gogh.

685. Oh. The painter fellow. Yeah. Foreigner. Red fella.

686. Yeah, that's him.

687. Oh. That'll be it, then.

688. What'll be what, then?

689. Here. Cider?

690. Don't mind if I do.

691. Thatching's thirsty work.

692. On the day that the painter fellow was wounded,

693. we heard a shot coming from that barn.

694. And now my nephew, he thinks it's haunted.

695. But... Vincent shot himself in the fields.

696. Well, that's what some folk say.

697. But I never met a person who actually saw him there.

698. The police looked for his stuff and they found nothing.

699. Not the gun, nor his painting stuff, nor his paintings.

700. And who'd steal that sort of thing?

701. So, you think he shot himself here?

702. In that barn?

703. I'm not saying nothing.

704. We just heard a shot.

705. Well, why didn't you go in and look?

706. Ah, it could've been anything.

707. Kids shooting rats.

708. No, it were only the next day when I heard that he'd been shot

709. that I went and looked.

710. But there was nothing.

711. If he shot himself here, how come you didn't see his stuff?

712. Oh, that is the question.

713. It's not that he was in a state to move it himself.

714. And why would anyone else move it?

715. Oh. Afternoon, Mr Roulin.

716. Oh. How nice of you to save me the trip to... that place.

717. Doctor sent me to tell you he can see you tomorrow morning.

718. - Stop in at any time. - Great. I was just thinking...

719. What you said about Vincent laughing around

720. and drinking with those lads on the day of his death?

721. Where was that?

722. Well, it was right here.

723. Exactly here.

724. Scribbling and scrawling away he was, as always.

725. So, he must have already had the gun on him, then?

726. Yeah, I guess he must have.

727. Well, he might have had it amongst his paints.

728. Wouldn't want to put it on display, would he?

729. Where do you think he got it from?

730. Ravoux girl said Gachet was a military man.

731. Has a gun, I guess?

732. You think he could have taken it from your place?

733. Not unless he put it back after.

734. The doctor does have a gun. In his study.

735. But I dust there every afternoon. It's never been elsewhere.

736. Anyway, everyone knows it was old Ravoux's gun.

737. Keeps it under the counter. Little pistol, and...

738. It's not there any more.

739. Well, see you tomorrow.

740. You were out early.

741. Long day.

742. Thirsty work.

743. And you've been quenching that thirst, I suppose?

744. Today I heard mention of young lads Vincent would hang around with.

745. That would be the Secretans.

746. But you won't find them here. They're in Paris.

747. They would often joke around with Vincent, especially Rene.

748. Rene could also take it a little far.

749. Poor Vincent. He nearly fainted.

750. But then Rene would buy him a drink to apologise.

751. He was like that.

752. Always picking up the tab, always buying people drinks.

753. I was also told that Vincent got the gun from your place.

754. What? Who told you that? We don't even have a gun.

755. Gachet's housekeeper told me you did.

756. No.

757. Father used to own one once, but...

758. He didn't reckon he'd need it here in Auvers, so he sold it.

759. - Before Vincent was shot? - Yes.

760. We didn't have it then.

761. And don't you go spreading that squawking hen's gossip.

762. This came for you.

763. It says that you've lost your job.

764. So, you're not good for credit.

765. Room for one more at your fire?

766. You look like you've had a day of it.

767. The Ravoux girl deprived me of my roof for the night.

768. Here. That'll warm you.

769. Now, that's something different.

770. My own recipe.

771. So why did the Ravoux girl get the hump?

772. Because I said that maybe Vincent got the gun from them.

773. No, no. Old Ravoux sold his gun to Rene. Everyone knows that.

774. He wanted it for his stupid cowboy costume.

775. He was running around, waving it in people's faces,

776. pretending he was in the Wild West.

777. Good customers, but bad sorts.

778. Especially the younger one.

779. Vincent was being gentlemanly towards the girls

780. and Rene barges in.

781. "Girls, don't be bothering with him."

782. "He cut off his dick as well as his ear."

783. and his ear.

784. Ooh. Let's go. These ones are mine.

785. Gaston. Come on.

786. I'd have smacked the runt if he'd said that to me.

787. So, why didn't you, then?

788. It wasn't my business.

789. It wasn't my fight.

790. So, why didn't you make it your fight?

791. If I said what I wanted to every lad acting up,

792. I'd have no customers.

793. Whoa, whoa!

794. I could've used that.

795. You could have said something to the boys.

796. Couldn't you see they were bullying him?

797. I told you, Vincent was hanging around them.

798. If he didn't want to be there, he could have stood up and left.

799. Maybe he was there because Rene always picked up the tab.

800. Or he just felt lonely

801. and liked being around young people who were enjoying themselves.

802. It wasn't my business. No. No, you've had enough.

803. Very friendly of you.

804. Turning your back, just like with Vincent.

805. Well, what did you do for him? Huh?

806. I don't hear you telling me that.

807. Were you such a great friend?

808. I never said I was.

809. - There you go. - Thank you.

810. - Ey up! - Who's he?

811. Who's he think he is? Probably some bloody gypsy.

812. Looks more like a nancy boy in that jacket.

813. What's he looking at?

814. Head down. Regular circus. Oh, look who else is coming in.

815. - That idiot. - Let's have some fun, then.

816. Are you coming?

817. - Yeah, you are an idiot, son! - Who gave birth to that?

818. Nice one. Whoa, watch out. Nancy boy's coming.

819. - What does he want, eh? - Alright, nancy boy?

820. Maybe he wants to join the—

821. Get him!

822. Oh... My head.

823. Oh, I... I didn't do that?

824. No.

825. It were me that landed the punch.

826. I... I don't remember.

827. I... think I was drunk.

828. Oh, you think?

829. If I caused any damage—

830. You damaged the pride of a couple of local toughs, that's all.

831. I hear you were defending the honour of our village idiot.

832. Yeah. Erm...

833. I think they were picking on him.

834. Well, they paid their dues.

835. But you didn't need to start on me when I arrived to restore the peace.

836. I'm sorry.

837. You're the lad that was asking about the Dutch guy that shot himself.

838. Yeah. He's a friend of my dad's.

839. Well, you know my dad's a postmaster?

840. Strange company for a respectable man like a postmaster to keep.

841. Not really. Vincent generated more letters than a town hall.

842. So it was sort of... a business relationship.

843. So, what business do you have here?

844. Well, I have an appointment with Dr Gachet to talk about Vincent.

845. I had my eye on him right from the start.

846. Don't worry. It'll be alright.

847. I'll have a little look around.

848. So, when I come in one Monday morning

849. to hear he'd shot himself, I'm not surprised.

850. Oh, you're here.

851. How is Mr Vincent? Any better?

852. But he told me what I wanted to know.

853. That he'd try to kill himself

854. and not to let anyone else get the blame.

855. Like I'd blame anyone else for his crime.

856. I think we should leave the man in peace.

857. Yes, I agree.

858. Even caused me trouble after he were dead.

859. Dr Mazery kept pestering me to file his report.

860. Even though he knew I already had Gachet's.

861. Who's Dr Mazery?

862. Dr Mazery?

863. Yes?

864. I would never send a report normally. I mean, this was Gachet's case.

865. Then I read that the patient died two days later in his room.

866. So, I felt that I should. For the record.

867. I asked the patient how it happened.

868. He said he'd shot himself. But I knew he hadn't.

869. I could tell by his wound.

870. With suicides, people shoot themselves in the head.

871. Either in the temple, or through the mouth.

872. If not, into the heart. But not through the stomach.

873. I was suspicious.

874. The bullet wound, it couldn't... Look, just stand up.

875. Stand up. Come on. Let me show you. Look.

876. There you are. That's a boy. Hup. That's it. Now back like that.

877. Now you're down there like that. And now look. You see? There!

878. - What? - Now! You see, that's too low an angle.

879. For what?

880. He would have had to have fired the gun with his outstretched toe.

881. Go on. You outstretch your toe.

882. Just stretch your toe out. You see?

883. And in any case, if you fire a bullet, point-blank range,

884. it'll go through the body.

885. Not always. But in all probability. Hmm.

886. So if it didn't go through,

887. then the gun must have been further back.

888. Hmm? Like...

889. There. Bang!

890. Yes. Hah.

891. Most likely, he was shot.

892. If it isn't the Provence Pugilist.

893. Should I be scared?

894. I thought you didn't go in for village gossip.

895. I don't. That's why one employs servants.

896. They get it for you.

897. Did you also hear that your friendly local gendarme put me up for the night?

898. So, now you're up here, contemplating your future?

899. No, actually.

900. I was thinking how come you lied, if you've got nothing to hide?

901. What makes you think I have any duty to tell you the truth?

902. Maybe I just thought my life was none of your business.

903. I wasn't asking about your life. I was asking about Vincent's death.

904. You thought that his death and my life were linked?

905. Yes. No. But...

906. But I don't think that any more.

907. The truth is...

908. I'm not important.

909. He wasn't some lovelorn teenager.

910. I know.

911. Did you know he was a genius?

912. No. Can't say that I did.

913. Well... I did.

914. It's not finished yet.

915. - Alright. I'll see you later. - Thank you.

916. He's still working.

917. And so did my father.

918. All his life he has tried so hard to be an artist.

919. And then this rough, awkward man,

920. without any proper training, who'd only been painting a few years,

921. comes barging in and rushes off, in a couple of hours,

922. what poor Father couldn't dream of painting in two lifetimes.

923. My dad would lock himself away and copy them for hours.

924. Father told me I was distracting Vincent from important work.

925. Asked if I really wanted to be responsible

926. for preventing masterpieces from being born.

927. Of course, I didn't.

928. So I started to not be in, or...

929. not be well when Vincent called.

930. Soon after that, they had an argument.

931. - A terrible row. - What do you think about...?

932. It wasn't about me. But...

933. maybe my withdrawal had soured things.

934. The next time my father saw him he had a bullet in his belly.

935. Are you satisfied now?

936. You can blame me. You can blame my father.

937. You are not to blame.

938. You've no part in it.

939. He was shot by some boys.

940. Some boy named Rene Secretan.

941. No, I'm... I'm, I'm serious.

942. I can see that.

943. Rene is an idiot, for sure, but he's not a murderer.

944. An idiot who drank, who had a gun, who walked around all summer with it.

945. Waving it in people's faces. Who bullied Vincent.

946. Who was seen with Vincent on the day of his death.

947. And his stuff disappears.

948. Now, he didn't disappear it himself, so...

949. There must have been someone else.

950. It must have been.

951. So, lonely Vincent resorts to hanging around with drunken teenagers

952. and he gets shot?

953. Or he shoots himself in despair at his lonely life?

954. The result is the same.

955. Either way, instead...

956. He could have been at our place, painting.

957. If I'd behaved differently. If him and my father hadn't argued—

958. But don't you care that some bastard may have gotten away with murder?

959. You want to know so much about his death,

960. but what do you know of his life?

961. I know that he tried hard

962. to prove he was good for something.

963. Yes. He did.

964. That's why I take flowers to his grave.

965. That's all I can do for him now.

966. He would appreciate the delicate beauty of their bloom.

967. Even each blade of their grassy stems.

968. No detail of life was too small or too humble for him.

969. He appreciated and loved it all.

970. Let you out of jail, did they?

971. On account of my winning personality.

972. It's like you're trying to out-disgrace your friend Vincent.

973. I'm working on it.

974. You must be the young man who's been waiting to see me.

975. - Armand Roulin. - Son of the great Joseph Roulin.

976. Giant of the South with Dostoyevsky's soul.

977. What?

978. That's what Vincent called your father. He told me all about him.

979. - He did? - Yes.

980. And your mother. La Berceuse.

981. Whose lullaby could soothe even the souls of Icelandic fishermen.

982. Come now, Armand of the Roulin clan.

983. Take a seat. Be welcome.

984. Louise? Drinks. What'll you have? Wine?

985. No, thank you. I had my fill last night.

986. Ah, tea, then. I have just the recipe.

987. Louise, you know the one. Chop chop.

988. So, young man. I hear you've been making something of a name for yourself

989. these past two days.

990. Believe me, that wasn't my intention. I just wanted to deliver a letter.

991. From a dead man to a dead man, I understand?

992. Yeah. Well, I didn't know that when I set out.

993. A guy I met in Paris thought you might have the address for Theo's widow.

994. Seems right the family should have the letter.

995. Well, that's what my father reckons.

996. Your father sounds like a responsible man. I sympathise.

997. I have to look after the health of great artists.

998. It is a burden. They are not peaceful souls.

999. I understand them because I am an artist too.

1000. That is why they trust me.

1001. - And Vincent trusted you too. - Yes, he did.

1002. Does it matter now?

1003. I was hoping you'd tell me.

1004. Tell you what, exactly?

1005. Vincent wrote to my father, six weeks before he died,

1006. and he said he felt "absolutely calm and in a normal state".

1007. So I came here, hoping you could explain

1008. how he went from "absolutely calm and in a normal state" to suicidal.

1009. But I reckon I know the answer to that.

1010. Oh, do you now?

1011. You're familiar with melancholia, are you?

1012. I wouldn't say so.

1013. Sufferers can change from feeling life is a wondrous joy

1014. to being stuck in a pit of despair within six hours.

1015. So. Think what changes are possible within six weeks.

1016. No, but I don't reckon that's it.

1017. Ravoux girl said he was happy here.

1018. Oh, she's obviously qualified to make such a diagnosis.

1019. No, but she saw him every day. Said he was calm and seemed normal.

1020. Maybe he did seem that way.

1021. Maybe he was that way, in the beginning.

1022. There he is. He's arrived.

1023. Leaving the asylum had given him fresh hope.

1024. He didn't want for much. Just to work from day to day.

1025. It's good to meet you.

1026. - Find a little friendship. - I've heard so much about you.

1027. All will be well.

1028. And did he find a little friendship?

1029. He had it from me.

1030. His friend, Tanguy, said his star was finally rising.

1031. Oh, and it was.

1032. With each new canvas, he painted a shining star.

1033. But all of those stars were surrounded by unfathomable, empty loneliness.

1034. You said he had your friendship, and his brother's love.

1035. I mean, seems like everything was alright.

1036. And underneath, he was deeply afraid of the future.

1037. To the baby, yes?

1038. Of his own and Theo's.

1039. To the little one.

1040. Time to meet you, little boy.

1041. I don't think he's responding.

1042. He knew that Theo had spent a small fortune on him.

1043. Come.

1044. The knowledge of this tore into Vincent.

1045. Excuse me.

1046. Theo could have had a house like this

1047. with all the money he'd spent on Vincent over the years.

1048. But instead, what did he have for his new wife and baby?

1049. Rooms full of paintings that no one wanted to buy.

1050. Vincent's biggest fear

1051. was that the burden of him would bring down his brother.

1052. So, Vincent worried a little about money.

1053. It's not like they were starving, is it?

1054. Listen.

1055. I don't reckon he committed suicide.

1056. I reckon he was shot.

1057. Have you been talking to Mazery?

1058. You heard his tale? Of how the angle of the bullet was all wrong?

1059. That nobody shoots themselves in the stomach?

1060. Well... yeah.

1061. What's to stop Vincent from doing something improbable?

1062. I mean, cutting a piece of your ear off

1063. and making a present of it to a whore is hardly probable, now, is it?

1064. No, but there was this lad, Rene,

1065. who had a gun, who bullied Vincent, and was seen with him on that day.

1066. I was at Vincent's bedside on that day, and he said he had shot himself.

1067. And told me not to blame anyone.

1068. Not to blame anyone?

1069. Doesn't that sound to you like he was trying to cover for someone?

1070. He wanted to die. I know that.

1071. Why would he say there's no one to blame

1072. unless he thought someone might be blamed?

1073. He said that because there was someone.

1074. Me.

1075. I think he...

1076. took his life to try and save Theo.

1077. Because of something I'd said.

1078. You see... there was an argument.

1079. I said something to Vincent

1080. that, as his doctor, I should never have said.

1081. - You know nothing about me! - He'd made me so angry.

1082. - He called me an artistic fraud. - You know nothing about art!

1083. - In a way, I am. - Worse, you are an artistic fraud!

1084. I desperately wanted to be an artist,

1085. but my father made me study medicine and I failed to stand up to him.

1086. Vincent said I was living a lie,

1087. whilst he lived and struggled for the truth.

1088. So, I thought, in the heat of our argument,

1089. OK, Vincent, I'll give you your precious truth.

1090. I knew that Theo was in the tertiary stages of syphilis.

1091. Any stress, financial, emotional or physical,

1092. could kill him.

1093. I said to Vincent...

1094. "What do you think the burden of worrying about you

1095. is doing to your brother?"

1096. It's quite likely killing him.

1097. That is the price of your truth.

1098. The price of your path as an artist. Is it worth it?

1099. That stopped the argument dead.

1100. Vincent!

1101. - Nee. - Vincent!

1102. Vincent, come back!

1103. Vincent!

1104. Two weeks later I am sitting at his bedside.

1105. And he is dying.

1106. The only words he said?

1107. "Maybe it is better for everyone."

1108. Here.

1109. A letter for a letter.

1110. Theo's widow is collecting all his letters.

1111. She wants to publish them.

1112. I'll make sure she gets that.

1113. In reading through Vincent's letters to Theo, she came across this one.

1114. It moved her so much, she copied it out and sent it to me.

1115. Why are you giving it to me?

1116. It is from when he was starting out on his journey as an artist.

1117. Take it. For your journey.

1118. Thank you, Dr Gachet.

1119. Armand Roulin, good luck.

1120. - Thanks a lot. - No bother, son.

1121. Who am I,

1122. in the eyes of most people?

1123. A nobody. A nonentity.

1124. An unpleasant person.

1125. Someone who has not, and never will have,

1126. any position in society.

1127. In short, the lowest of the low.

1128. Well, then, even if that were all absolutely true...

1129. then one day, I would like to show, by my work,

1130. what this nobody, this nonentity, has in his heart.

1131. I looked for you at the bar.

1132. Any luck on the... on the job front?

1133. Nothing.

1134. Lieutenant Milliet says I should enlist.

1135. What for?

1136. Well, I'm good at fighting. Aren't I?

1137. Roulins have always been that.

1138. The trick is to know what you're fighting for.

1139. Oh, would you look at it.

1140. It's a whole other world up there.

1141. Something we get to gaze upon but don't fully understand.

1142. Reminds me of him.

1143. It feels wrong.

1144. All that life snuffed out because of a stupid accident.

1145. I'm still wondering why he would cover for those boys.

1146. What I'm wondering is if people will appreciate what he did.

1147. - You were looking for me? - Ah.

1148. This arrived from Holland this morning.

1149. It's from Jo.

1150. Theo's widow.

1151. Turns out, Gachet did send the letter.

1152. And she was terribly touched by what you did.

1153. She thought it right that you should know what was in it.

1154. So she copied it out for us.

1155. She sends her...

1156. - She says something about— - Alright, give it here.

1157. In the life of the painter,

1158. death may perhaps not be the most difficult thing.

1159. For myself, I declare I don't know anything about it.

1160. But the sight of the stars always makes me dream.

1161. Why, I say to myself,

1162. should the spots of light in the firmament be inaccessible to us?

1163. Maybe we can take death to go to a star.

1164. And to die peacefully of old age would be to go there on foot.

1165. For the moment, I'm going to go to bed because it's late,

1166. and I wish you good night and good luck.

1167. With a handshake.

1168. Your loving Vincent.