Not recommended under 13; parental guidance 13 to 15 due to disturbing scenes and themes
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not recommended due to disturbing scenes and themes |
Children 13 to 15 | Parental guidance recommended due to disturbing scenes and themes |
Viewers 15 and over | OK for this group |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Loving Vincent |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Mature themes |
Length: | 95 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
The graphics in the animated film Loving Vincent are based on the paintings of Vincent van Gogh, and it is the world’s first totally oil painted feature film.
The film is set one year after the death of van Gogh from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Joseph Roulin (voice of Chris O’Dowd) postmaster and close friend of van Gogh, has an undelivered letter written by the artist just prior to his death; the letter is addressed to Vincent’s brother Theo. Joseph entrusts the delivery of the letter to his son Armand (voice of Douglas Booth), but when Armand attempts to deliver the letter he discovers that Theo is also dead, leaving Armand wondering to whom he should deliver the letter.
Armand travels to the town where Vincent lived, hoping that he might gain some insight into how the artist could go from being reportedly content to suicidal in six weeks. He soon finds that everyone who knew Vincent had a different view on how he met his death.
By the film’s end the audience gains some insight into the life and trials of the painter, who over an eight year period produced over eight hundred paintings while selling only one. However there are still many unanswered questions surrounding his death.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Suicide; self-mutilation; sexually transmitted diseases; mental illness
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children in this age group may also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Younger children in this age group may be disturbed by some of the themes and scenes in this film.
Nothing of concern
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some partial nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Loving Vincent is an animated drama targeting older adolescents and adults, particularly lovers of van Gogh’s art who will enjoy the unique animation. The film was entirely hand painted in oils by over one hundred artists, involving over 60 thousand individual frames painted over a seven year period.
Due to the disturbing themes and images, the film is not recommended for children under 13. Parental guidance is recommended for the 13 to 15 year old age group and there is much to discuss with this age group.
The main messages from this movie is that talented artists can be troubled by psychological problems that lead to them being excluded, misunderstood and undervalued by those around them.
Parents may wish to discuss why people shunned Vincent and discriminated against him. Where they scared of him because he was different? Was it his psychological disorder that they didn’t understand and were afraid of, or were they simply ignorant of his genius?
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
Children and Media Australia (CMA) is a registered business name of the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM).
CMA provides reviews, research and advocacy to help children thrive in a digital world.
ACCM is national, not-for-profit and reliant on community support. You can help.
ABN: 16 005 214 531