Mapplethorpe is now available to rent, buy or stream.
Ondi Timoner’s biopic of the revolutionary and conflicted artist Robert Mapplethorpe has moments of vision and ingenuity. Still, it ultimately falls into the same trap as many biopics by attempting to cover Robert’s complex life in a single film. Robert challenged established views of the male body and redefined the thin line between pornography and art, his evocative imagery full of the beauty of nature as he explored the human body and its biological and artistic roots.
Mapplethorpe was raised catholic, and as a result, he suppressed the very feelings he held inside as he battled with his sexuality, place and purpose. Like so many, including Keith Haring and Jürgen Baldiga, he left his home town in his teens for the bright lights and freedom of New York, and it was here that his artistic strength and confidence blossomed alongside his once-suppressed sexuality.
The job of portraying this complex personal journey sits in the capable hands of Matt Smith, and from the outset, Smith provides us with an excellent performance. Smith understands the light and dark of Mapplethorpe’s world and the eventual trappings of his success. However, this strong performance is let down by a significant pacing issue that sees us race through his life and the foundations of his art without taking a breath.
Due to the need to cover Mapplethorpe’s entire life in two hours, Timoner never allows the audience time to reflect on the artistic impulses that drove Robert, as we haphazardly jump from one scene to the next. Like a kid with their first camera, the emphasis is placed on capturing as many stills as possible, which only diminishes the complexity of Mapplethorpe’s character and work. The result is a disappointing, oversimplistic and rushed biopic that never fully allows us into Robert’s internal and public world.
Country: USA 🇺🇸
Director: Ondi Timoner
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