Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures is a 2016 American documentary film about the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, directed and executive produced by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, and produced by Katharina Otto-Bernstein for Film Manufacturers Inc.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
| Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by |
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| Produced by | Katharina Otto-Bernstein |
| Starring |
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| Music by | David Benjamin Steinberg |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | HBO |
Release date |
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Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures, received its premiere at Sundance Film Festival[9] in January 2016, followed by the international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival[10] in February, and a world television premiere on HBO in April. The film was released theatrically in the US and UK in April 2016.
Selected cast
edit- Debbie Harry
- Fran Lebowitz
- Robert Mapplethorpe
- Paul Martineau
- Brooke Shields
Reception
editIzy Radwanska Zhang, writing for the British Journal of Photography, stated "Aside from telling a gripping story, Bailey and Barbato have succeeded in capturing the overwhelming sense of adoration and emotional paralysis felt by all those who were influenced by Mapplethorpe."[11]
Peter Bradshaw, writing in The Guardian, stated that it was an "interesting if flawed documentary study", that "the movie is, for me, a little uncritical on the subject of Mapplethorpe’s weaknesses: his lucrative celebrity portraits now look, frankly, uninteresting" and "for me, the problem with this film is that it doesn’t analyse Mapplethorpe’s much admired photographs of flowers. How seriously did the artist take these images – how seriously should we take them? Was it that pistels and stamens and petals resembled genitalia? Is that not the point? Or were the flowers simply there to deflect criticism, to underscore a spurious context and artistic good faith? It’s difficult to tell. This otherwise thorough study does justice to Mapplethorpe’s talent."[12]
References
edit- ^ "Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ Leigh, Danny (21 April 2016). "Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures — film review: 'Appreciative and frank'". London: Financial Times. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ Macnab, Geoffrey (22 April 2016). "Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures, film review: a documentary that tackles sexuality". The Independent. London. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ Debruge, Peter (25 March 2016). "Film Review: 'Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures'". Variety. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ Poniewozik, James (3 April 2016). "Review: 'Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures' on HBO Gives Context to Controversy". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ Botting, Clive (21 April 2016). "Film Reviews: Bastille Day - Louder Than Bombs - Mapplethorpe:Look At The Pictures - Arabian Nights:The Restless One - The Divide". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ Brady, Tara (21 April 2016). "Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures review - Life through a distorted lens". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ Anderson, John (31 March 2016). "'Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures' Review". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ Sundance Film Festival page for Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures
- ^ Berlin Film Festival page for Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures
- ^ Radwanska Zhang, Izy (7 April 2016). "Review: HBO's new documentary on the turbulent life of Robert Mapplethorpe". British Journal of Photography. Apptitude Media Ltd. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (21 April 2016). "Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures review – justice is done to a brilliant photographer". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 April 2016.