Mapplethorpe

This was a very broad interpretation of the life of Mapplethorpe. It seems that the movie was missing a lot of scenes. Maybe they ended up being cut, or the makers held back. This could have been a masterpiece, but it fell short of that. Redo it with an with a real intention to explore deeper into his life.

Don't waste time to watch this movie, the spirit of Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith not been delivered at all. And the actor / actress didn't click as well. PLSSSS GO READ "JUST KIDS" WROTE BY PATTI SMITH.

"Apparently too complaisant to earn approval from the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Timoner, a documentarian herself, dulls the edge of Mapplethorpe's thornier elements, instead, the Robert her film portrays is an amorphous mass of petulance, narcissism and ambiguity, neither drive nor ruthlessness can be traced from Smith's performance. As if things, homosexuality, BDSM, a Polaroid camera, a sugar daddy in the person of Sam Wagstaff (an affable Hickey), among others, simply happen to this nonentity, and he take them willy-nilly. Also, Marianne Rendón's Patti Smith is equally bland, a disgrace to an iconic figure. Contrary to Mapplethorpe's explosively erotic works, the biopic is too nondescript to make a splash anywhere, save for the 16mm film texture that is alluringly pleasing to contemplate, however, the sheen loses some of its flavor and turns bilious when the film careers toward its destined finish line. The director's cut, released in 2020, runs several minutes longer by interleaving scenes that fumble for some religious influence on Mapplethorpe's anima and artistic inspiration, a fool's errand to inject some semblance of meaningfulness to a picture largely skims on the surface of a controversial figure."

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Award-winning documentarian Ondi Timoner (Dig!) creates her first fiction feature as an episodic ramble, rather than a wild ride. Ticking off famous encounters - an affair with Marianne Rendón's Patti Smith, his careermaking partnership with gay curator Sam Wagstaff (John Benjamin Hickey) - the script feels like a dutiful life-list, its dialogue creakily banal ("You're the Jekyll and Hyde of photography!"). Shot quickly, and on a small budget, the action's confined to stylish interiors, which gives it a shut-in feeling. Smith throws himself gamely into the part, but his languid performance can't spark the movie into life, even when drugs, Aids and heartbreak kick in. Set against Mapplethorpe's taboo-busting work, this homage feels oddly conventional, though it never swerves his hedonistic nightlife. Curious art lovers can check out 2016 doc Robert Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures for a smarter, spicier take on his fine work and fast times.

Matt Smith is woefully miscast as Mapplethorpe, but the story and the dialogue don't do him any favours. This is not the Mapplethorpe of "Just Kids" or any interview that I have read. The production seems scared of itself and really brushes over sensitive subjects rather than take them on headlong. Mapplethorpe's story deserves a better telling than this.