Lust for Life

Synopsis: Vincent Van Gogh is the archetypical tortured artistic genius. His obsession with painting, combined with mental illness, propels him through an unhappy life full of failures and unrewarding relationships. He fails at being a preacher to coal miners. He fails in his relationships with women. He earns some respect among his fellow painters, especially Paul Gauguin, but he does not get along with them. He only manages to sell one painting in his lifetime. The one constant good in his life is his brother Theo, who is unwavering in his moral and financial support.
Genre: Biography, Drama
Director(s): Vincente Minnelli, George Cukor (co-director)
Production: MGM
  Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.4
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
APPROVED
Year:
1956
122 min
661 Views


You are now qualified

for evangelical work...

under the auspices of the Belgian

Committee of the Messengers of the Faith.

May the Lord guide you

and sustain you in all your ways.

Congratulations, Dr. Bosman.

A very creditable group of young men.

Now about this

other young man, Dr. Bosman.

Are you sure he's quite hopeless?

Gentlemen, I've trained a great

many students in evangelical work...

but never in my life

have I come across a case quite like this.

He is completely unable

to speak extemporary.

He prepares long and obscure sermons

which he's unable to memorize...

and has to read

like a stumbling and inarticulate child.

Now, gentlemen, can we send

that kind of man out into the field...

to represent our society?

Dr. Peeters, I think that's conclusive.

Dr. Bosman, ask him to come in, please.

Mr. Van Gogh, we have Dr. Bosman's

report on your progress here.

- In view of what he's told us...

- You understand...

if your teacher feels

that you're unqualified...

this committee cannot give you

an appointment.

We regret it more than we can say.

Gentlemen, I think that concludes

Committee business for today.

Mr. Van Gogh, do you feel that the

Committee were unjust in their decision?

- No, sir.

- We did what we had to do...

in view of your records.

- Yes, sir.

- Come here.

Your father is a minister, is he not?

I'm not trying to put myself

on a level with my father.

I only hoped in some way

to follow in his footsteps.

Yet, until a year ago...

you showed no inclination or desire

to follow your father's calling.

Believe me, this is something I have to do.

I want to help the unfortunates.

I want to bring them the word of God.

Even if I'm not qualified,

there must be some way I can serve.

Isn't there any place for me?

Somewhere no one else wants to go?

I'll do anything. Only use me. Use me!

Come here.

- Do you know this part of the country?

- No.

It's a coal-mining region, the Borinage.

There exist no more miserable people

on the face of the earth...

than the miners who live there.

If you really mean what you said

about wanting to help the unfortunates...

here's your chance.

"The heart that seeks God...

"has more storms than any others.

"Life is a struggle here below.

"Yet out of our sufferings...

"God teaches us higher things.

"He wills..."

"He wills that man should live humbly...

"and go through life

not reaching after lofty aims...

"but fitting himself to the lowly

and learning from the Gospels...

"to be meek, simple of heart."

Father, we pray to thee

to keep us from evil and despair.

Feed us with the bread

that does not perish, which is thy word.

O Lord, amen.

Mister!

- I don't know what your name is, but...

- Ducrucq.

Why did you leave?

Did I say something wrong?

I saw you leave.

What did I say that offended you?

Just because it's Sunday...

you don't expect us to listen

to the kind of pious bilge...

- you gave us just now.

- Bilge?

Look, I worked all week on that sermon.

I meant every word of it.

Listen, mister. Every now and then,

somebody comes here from the outside...

and tries to help us.

They mean well. So do you, probably,

but that doesn't help us at all, does it?

I want to bring you the word of God.

- What can I do? Tell me.

- I don't know.

Help me. Help me

to understand you people...

to know you. Take me into your homes

where you live.

We don't live here.

We only come here to sleep.

Down there, 2,000 feet underground,

that's where we live.

Can I go down? Take me.

- Will you take me down?

- Sure, I can arrange it.

Be here in the morning when I go to work.

At 4:
00.

I'm trembling inside of me

just as much as you are.

And I've been going down for 33 years.

- How old is that child?

- Eleven.

- How long has she been working here?

- A year.

Her father was killed in the explosion.

Listen, mister. Every now and then,

somebody comes here from the outside...

and tries to help us.

They mean well. So do you, probably,

but that doesn't help us at all, does it?

Ducrucq.

Come down! Somebody...

Why don't you come down

and wait with us?

What are you waiting for?

I've got a blanket in there

for one of the wounded, and some bread.

What about you?

Wait for me.

Van Gogh.

I see you don't remember us.

From the Committee

of the Messengers of the Faith.

I'm glad you've come. Did you bring

food and clothes for the families?

- Families?

- Another accident?

- You didn't know?

- I'm sorry to hear it.

- Were there many lost?

- Six.

- Four men, two children, 28 injured.

- Terrible.

I'll see what we can do.

It's unfortunate our visit

should have come at this time.

But it was Rev. Peeters' wish.

The purpose of our coming here

is an inspection.

Excuse me, gentlemen. I'll be right back.

- Just what is the meaning of this?

- You receive an allowance.

Why have you chosen to live in the most

wretched, filthy shack in this village?

Because we have no right to spread

the word of God to these people...

unless we suffer as they do.

You yourself are unclean.

Your clothes are ragged and dirty.

There are people here

who have no clothes.

Do you mean to tell us

you actually sleep on this dirt and straw...

like a beast of the field? You,

the spiritual leader of the community?

I gave my bed to a sick woman

who needed it more than I.

You are new in this work.

I have no doubt you mean well.

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Norman Corwin

Norman Lewis Corwin (May 3, 1910 – October 18, 2011) was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing. His earliest and biggest successes were in the writing and directing of radio drama during the 1930s and 1940s. Corwin was among the first producers to regularly use entertainment—even light entertainment—to tackle serious social issues. In this area he was a peer of Orson Welles and William N. Robson, and an inspiration to other later radio/TV writers such as Rod Serling, Gene Roddenberry, Norman Lear, J. Michael Straczynski and Yuri Rasovsky. He was the son of Samuel and Rose Corwin and was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Corwin was a major figure during the Golden Age of Radio. During the 1930s and 1940s he was a writer and producer of many radio programs in many genres: history, biography, fantasy, fiction, poetry and drama. He was the writer and creator of series such as The Columbia Workshop, 13 By Corwin, 26 By Corwin and others. He was a lecturer at the University of Southern California. Corwin won a One World Award, two Peabody Medals, an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a duPont-Columbia Award; he was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for Lust for Life (1956). On May 12, 1990, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Lincoln College. In 1996 he received the Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa from California Lutheran University. Corwin was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1993. A documentary film on Corwin's life, A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin, won an Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Feature) in 2006. Les Guthman's feature documentary on Mr. Corwin's career, Corwin aired on PBS in the 1990s. He was inducted into the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters Diamond Circle in 1994. more…

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