In 1887, Stephen Liegeard, now largely forgotten, published a guide to this regionentitled “La Cote d’Azur” thus creating the famous phrase and, in the same publication wrote “the favorite daughter of the sun is Cannes.”

Shades of blue.

Thus, from its very beginnings, various writers, artists, and painters have attempted to capture the brilliant but elusive quality of light and environment that so captivates the visitor – let alone the virtual armies of artists from all disciplines who come here just to write, paint, sculpt, etc. because of the hyper-agreeable atmosphere. Just a few of the very famous – Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Salvador Dali, Alberto Giacometti, Alber Camus, Ernest Hemingway, Victor Hugo, John-Paul Sartre, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, William Yeats and on and on it goes.

"Walking Man II" by Giacometti, "Weeping Woman" by Picasso, "Dream…etc.." by Dali,
and "Nude’s Back" by Matisse.

This afternoon I met a Polish woman named Malgosia who owns a small restaurant/ gallery situated near Theoule – about a 15 minute drive up the coast from Cannes on the way to St. Tropez. She represents local and promising, but as yet unknown artists from here and other parts of Europe. We had coffee, talked about the delights of the Riviera, her work with struggling artists, her mountain cabin and her own painting. She is a hardworking, successful woman who is living the creative life here on the edge of the azure sea – and, in so doing is following in the footsteps of so many others. How successful will she be? I suppose it depends on the indices of measurement that are used. Today, she appeared engaged, industrious and happy – for most of us, that’s probably enough.In any event, to function as an artist anywhere requires courage, perseverance and, of course, talent. With these qualities, a life spent productively on the Cote d’Azure will be of the joyous and rewarding sort. Some more names – Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Parker, Joseph Conrad, Jacques Cousteau, D.H. Lawrence, Noel Coward, Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maughaum, etc. 

Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, Dorothy Parker, and Joseph Conrad.

The movie – “Lust for Life” (a biography of Vincent Van Gogh) starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Vincent Minelli is my choice for this report. It is very good and Douglas is fabulous but it is old — and maybe old-fashioned — so another much more recent effort should also be noted: "The Girl with the Pearl Earring," starring Scarlett Johansen and Colin Firth and directed brilliantly by first-timer Peter Webber.As well, a French production of the film "Van Gogh" was made in 1991. It is very good and probably much truer to the facts of Van Gogh’s life.I strongly urge all to see the three films — they are excellent — and as a total viewing experience very rewarding!

Movie Review:

Lust For Life

Directed by Vincent Minnelli — MGM 1956
Starring: Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn

I first saw “Lust for Life” when it was released in 1956 and, at that time, I was a young and expelled university student, just beginning his struggles with alcohol. Now it seems clearer as to why the viewing experience was so powerful for me!

The use of the paintings in conjunction with the film location is brilliant.

I remember seeing it alone one weekday night in a very cold Winnipeg and my route home took me walking over the Red River where, on the bridge, I stood for a long time – mirroring one of the scenes in the movie where Van Gogh stands on a bridge at night staring at the rushing black water, contemplating suicide.Clearly I did not jump off the bridge but I thought about it for a good, long time. For me, this movie had a profound effect.

Director Vincent Minnelli took great pains to render Van Gogh’s work in the
most authentic fashion possible.

I’ve seen it many times since and continue to marvel at its emotional power. To me, Douglas is mesmerizing as the tortured Van Gogh, but the soul of the movie for me is in the way the essential goodness and spirituality of the painter is captured though the tender and bittersweet relationship with his brother Theo as well as his tempestuous friendship with Paul Gaugin (played with Academy-Award winning “gusto” by Anthony Quinn) – but, in the end, it is Minnelli’s superb use of the paintings themselves as well as his rendering of their fevered realization that express Van Gogh’s heartbreaking loneliness and frailty as well as his inspired brilliance.

"Cafe at Night in Arles"

The “bona fides” of the film are beyond question – the subject is Vincent Van Gogh, the producer is John Housman (intellectual and academic), the writer is Norman Corwin (a successful writer, intellectual and academic), the director of photography is Freddie Young (one of the greatest of all cinematographers), Vincent Minnelli directing plus a myriad of Van Gogh paintings from museums and collections around the world!The ingredients are all there – but Kirk Douglas takes center stage and does not falter for a moment – an underrated actor who many times met extraordinary creative challenges – “Spartacus”, “Lonely are the Brave”, “Champion”, “Paths of Glory” and “Detective Story” just to name a few.But, to me, “Lust for Life” was/is his finest hour.