From the opening pan across a cardboard wall as we follow at black cat before it jumps through a window, you know this is going to be something very very special.
The mournful, melancholy tones of "The Streets of Cairo" played by the titular Vincent on his flute set the mood perfectly. This isn't going to be a film you enjoy, this is going to be a film you admire.
Not that enjoyment can't be taken out of the admiration, this I fully accept, but Vincent, in it's 5 minutes and 53 seconds is more about Tim Burton projecting his wonderfully weird and unique vision of solitude and escapism than it is about entertaining us. Make no mistake about Vincent, with the exception of the original Frankenweenie, this is arguably Tim Burton's most personal film.
The masterstroke of having the legendary Vincent Price himself narrating the story is just another great level of texture on an already rich tapestry. From the wonderfully designed animals (a theme that is recognisable in Beetlejuice, to the creation of a Poe like rhyme to outline the beauty and fear in Vincent's encroaching madness, culminating in the most famous of all of Poe's lines in such a brilliant way, Vincent really is the complete package.
I can't think of anything in this film that misfires or even simply doesn't quite work... As the sum of all its parts, Vincent is a masterpiece. I can;t speak to the director's intent (or technical limitations) but even the shaky and forced feel of a couple of the camera movements add a wonderful texture to the film. The dolly back at the very end of the film seems as though it could have been done over coals or gravel but this seems perfectly fitting to the feel of the film.
I love Tim Burton's early works, even as far north as Mars Attacks. With a couple of exceptions, there isn't much past (and definitely including) Planet of the Apes that I am that bothered about - at least to the same degree as I fell in love with the early films that marked him out as such a unique, visionary director.
Not that I want this review to be about bashing Tim Burton's recent failures (Sweney and Frankenweenie excepted) but all I will say is can you imagine is the re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland had been made with the same tone as Vincent... Now that's a film I'd have queued up to buy a ticket for.
Genius.
You Can watch Vincent on YouTube here
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