The Robert Mapplethorpe documentary, from 1988--one year before he died--is an excellent examination of one of the most controversial of American photographers. British documentarian Nigel Finch does an outstanding job fusing interviews with Mr. Mapplethorpe himself, with critic and author Edmund White, and with several of Mapplethorpe's subjects as well, with numerous shots of the man's work. Mapplethorpe, gay, did not hesitate to photograph what he wanted to without fear of reprisal or censorship. Indeed, a good number of his pieces were not shown in the documentary at its original airing on PBS with the comment, "Considered Unsuitable for Viewing On This Transmission." His openly sexual work can at times be more than shocking, but it is always powerful and direct; as critic Lynn Davies says in the documentary, he did not pose people but photographed them doing what they would normally do in the course of their lives.
Directed by Nigel Finch
Your score–
Not scoredImages
Related
Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures
Tongues Untied
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Welcome to Chechnya
Drew: The Man Behind the Poster
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
The Last Repair Shop
Howard
Naqoyqatsi
The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story
LA Originals
McQueen
Looking for Richard
Come See Me in the Good Light
I Am Divine
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead