Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures

2016

108 mins

Poster for Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures

Directed by Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
97%
88%
Documentary

Documentary from the duo behind Inside Deep Throat examines the life and work of the revered and controversial photographer Robert... More

Documentary from the duo behind Inside Deep Throat examines the life and work of the revered and controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

"Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato were given unrestricted access to Mapplethorpe's archives for their documentary in which this exceptional artist talks candidly about himself in recently discovered interviews. At the same time, the testimonials of friends, lovers, family members, celebrities and models help paint quite a critical picture of this complex key figure of twentieth century photography." (Berlin International Film Festival)

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Where to watch Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures

Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures is available to stream in... More the United Kingdom now on Amazon Video and Apple TV Store and Google TV and BFI Player Rentals and YouTube.

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Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures | Ratings & Reviews

97_%36 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
88_%202 reviews
Audience score rating

"Each chapter of Mapplethorpe's biography - his Catholic boyhood in Queens, his renowned romances with Patti Smith and the collector Sam Wagstaff, his devotion to and aestheticizing of s/m - is given the same cursory treatment."

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Village Voice

"The controversial artist may have worked in black and white, but his life is anything but in this terrific portrait by the 'Inside Deep Throat' duo."

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Variety

"The thing you learn from this in-depth doc is how much of a trail he blazed."

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Time Out

"Look at the Pictures: It restores a sense of the forbidden to Mapplethorpe that's been lost in the years of worship."

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The Washington Post

"It forces viewers to take long looks at his most controversial imagery, proving that he still has the power to provoke, seduce and enrage."

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The Guardian

"The directors do well when allowing Mapplethorpe's friends, family, colleagues, and the artist himself-via archive interviews-to frame the conversation."

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Roger Ebert

"At least the film allows viewers to come to their own conclusions on these aesthetic questions; the subtitle "Look at the Pictures," does not tell us what to think."

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