Writer, director, and producer, Paul Davids, has done a wonderful job in bringing to the public the independent and modestly-budgeted film, Starry Night, and with Paul's talent, too bad he didn't have more production money. Starry Night is a beautiful and unique story of Vincent van Gogh who comes back to contemporary times in Los Angeles and finds that his paintings are now worth millions. Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime and died in poverty. Van Gogh, played by David Abbot Alexander, was a genuinely interesting character, almost too good to be true, but then anyone with talents like Van Gogh's would have to be unique. As a young minister I once foolishly asked the well-known southwestern painter, Ted DeGrazia, whose art wasn't recognized until he was in his fifties, if he knew God. His reply was, "Can't you tell through my brush that I know God?"If you can paint flowers as beautiful as Van Gogh, God's essence assuredly is the heart behind the brush. Van Gogh's child-like honesty and kindness gave the character a spirituality that came forth in the film.
The miraculous is always difficult for people to believe, so the return of a master painter was not an easy concept for Paul Davids to sell to the public, but I feel he did a wonderful job. I, for one, enjoyed the film. Just seeing the beautiful art was worth the price of admission. And for any true artist who hasn't "succeeded" in the eyes of the world or the critics, this film is a "must see." Most true artists are hundreds of years ahead of anyone else. That's why it took one hundred years for individuals to appreciate Van Gogh's art.
Today, many individuals who are labeled artists by marketing and media enterprises wouldn't know what true art was if it hit them over the head.The American public, as well as all western civilization, needs to help true artists make a living with their art long before they're dead to this world.
~Gabriel of Urantia*MPAA = Motion Picture Association of America
