A One Mann’s Movies review of “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” (2023).
Nominated for the “Documentary” category for both the BAFTA and the Oscar, “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is a highly professional documentary by Laura Poitras, who’s been making documentaries for over 20 years. I find it difficult to separate my attitude about the QUALITY of a documentary from my like or dislike of the subject matter. This one is doubly difficult to assess since it has two main strands, one of which I find very interesting and one I find of little interest at all!
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
Nan Goldin is a famous photographer, most well known for breaking the mould for portraiture in New York in the 70’s and 80’s. But she also nearly died of an opioid overdose following a course of Oxycontin – the “non-addictive” drug supplied by Purdue Pharmaceuticals, run by the Sackler family. The film charts the use of her fame and influence in discrediting the Sackler, trying to hold them to account and in removing their name from art galleries and museums around the world. But the Sackler’s are incredibly rich and powerful people….
Certification:
UK: 18; US: R. (From the BBFC: “Strong sexual images”.) (This is some of Goldin’s photographic work of her and others having sex. If you are afraid of the odd penis picture, then this isnt for you, but otherwise…)
Talent:
Starring: Nan Goldin.
Directed by: Laura Poitras.
Twitter Handle: #Allthebeautyandthebloodshed.
Nan Goldin protesting at the Louvre. (Source: Altitude Films)
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” Review:
Positives:
- This starts with a recommendation: if you haven’t seen the series “Dopesick”, covering the history of Purdue Pharma and Oxycontin, then I heartily recommend it. I think it’s still available on Disney+. As it’s ‘TV’ you won’t find a review of it on here, but Michael Keaton and Kaitlyn Dever have never been better. Very powerful. And this is the aspect of this documentary that really grabbed my interest. Goldin organising meetings of “PAIN” to coordinate protest against the Sackler family and, particularly, a heady video conference call with opioid victims challenging the Sacklers (well, two out of three – the coward!) face-to-face,
- The film is slickly cut together into six ‘chapters’ covering different aspects of Goldin’s life, and we cut back and forth through time as we tell her story. Some of the editing of this is exceptionally good. And it is accompanied by some other-worldly music which is very fitting.
Negatives:
- The strand that interested me less (and seemed to take up a lot of the running time, was the focus on Nan’s early life story, her artwork and her lovers and friends – listed ad nauseum. BITS of this, like her AIDS inspired showing, were fascinating. Other bits, though, were less so. And some of it felt quite repetitive. Overall, I would have trimmed a good ten to fifteen minutes of this stuff out of the 2 hour run-time.
- I also sometimes fundamentally don’t understand art (which is my bad)! Some of the portrait photographs on show I could perceive as being absolutely stunning. But other photographs shown were fuzzy, blurry shots that if I’d taken them on my iPhone I would have immediately deleted!
Triggers?
There are descriptions and still shots of domestic abuse contained within here which some viewers may find triggering.
Summary Thoughts on “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”:
It’s an interesting documentary, nicely bookending – with reality – the continuation of the fictionalised account in “Dopesick”. I could personally have done with a shorter film and one more focused on that topic. But I can see art lovers, especially photographic art lovers, reacting positively to this movie.
If you want to seek this one out, “Picturehouses” cinemas would be a good place to start. They are trying to show many of the BAFTA and Oscar nominated pictures at the moment.
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Trailer for “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”:
The trailer is here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kTKL5P_69e8 .
