Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2017: Jerome Flynn in Loving Vincent

Jerome Flynn did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Dr. Paul Gachet in Loving Vincent.

Loving Vincent is the beautifully animated film that examines the end of Vincent van Gogh's life through the Citizen Kane method as the son of one of van Gogh's few friends, Armand Roulin (Douglas Booth), attempts to find who his final letter should be delivered to.

Jerome Flynn plays Dr. Paul Gachet, a real life figure from van Gogh's life, that this film uses as the most pivotal figure in potentially finding an understanding of van Gogh's final fate. The film takes its time to fully reveal the man and his own "testimony" on van Gogh serves as essentially the climax of the film. We do witness the man beforehand through Flynn's performance, which to quickly address is classical rotoscope therefore the original work of the actor is captured, mostly in glimpses. We get shades of the man and of his relationship with van Gogh. These are brief though Flynn effectively realizes the different parts of a relationship whether it is a moment of seeming camaraderie between the doctor and the artist or one of antagonism. These glimpses help to create this mystery of van Gogh's final days, and effectively builds this anticipation for when we will finally hear the direct testimony from the man rather the bits of gossip we are granted before then. Flynn emerges from the film in a performance very different than his sardonic work in Game of Thrones. Flynn's performance here is rich with the history of memory. From the outset Flynn exudes such a kindly demeanor as he introduces the young man himself through his knowledge from Vincent. While directly quoting the man there is such palatable nostalgic pride that Flynn exudes for that past relationship. As the young man asks about his relationship with Vincent Flynn captures the pain of this all. There is always these glints of joy he brings in a slight smile though meanwhile his eyes always seem to be looking towards the past. When he speaks of the relationship there is a somberness that overwhelms that Flynn manages to imply toward Gachet's own failures rather than only the loss of Vincent. Flynn reveals such a haunted man in every second of this scene as he captures the difficult past in such vibrant detail even when we do not directly see it. He infuses his work with the time that has passed as he grants that sense of pain that is of a wound that stays with the doctor. There is a shame that Flynn finds as the man reveals his own vulnerabilities that were exposed by Vincent. It is never the only facet as there is this real frustration that Flynn delivers in every response to the young man's theories that Vincent might have been shot by someone else, a frustration directed by Flynn as this definite acceptance of the truth of the death. The truth he reveals in flashback and in the current moment. Flynn is heartbreaking, and incredibly powerful as he reveals the two sides of the doctor's grief for his failures in the same scene. The moment in the past where the grief is raw as Flynn reveals the intensity he cries over his fallen friend, and then in the present where he still reveals a man still troubled as relives this memory. In this single scene Flynn reveals in such detail all that Vincent meant to this man, and sums up the tragedy of that life. It is brilliant work by Flynn as he captures in only a few minutes the real emotional truth of the story, and leaves an undeniable impression upon the film.