Black White + Gray
Palm Springs International Film FestivalLM Media/Arthouse Films
PALM SPRINGS -- You needn't be an aficionado of photography, erotica, sadomasochism or First Amendment law to know of Robert Mapplethorpe. But Sam Wagstaff, who as Mapplethorpe's patron and lover helped inform his sensibility, is hardly a household name despite his lasting influence as a collector and curator. With his first film, James Crump aims to restore Wagstaff to his place in art history. Black White + Gray -- which takes its title from a groundbreaking 1964 Minimalism exhibition that Wagstaff organized -- gathers a wealth of talking-head reminiscences and photographic exhibits. The brief (72-minute) docu is sometimes cursory, sometimes repetitive, but it's a creditable introduction to a fascinating life.
A key witness is Patti Smith, whose connection to Mapplethorpe is well documented. She relays his excitement upon meeting the hyperintelligent, handsome Wagstaff, scion of a New York society family and 25 years his senior. Smith recalls the thrift-shop outings that netted shopping bags full of postcards, snapshots, medical photos and gay erotica -- the beginnings of Wagstaff's world-class photography collection and the inspiration for Mapplethorpe's often controversial work. Wagstaff's collection also formed the core of the Getty's photo holdings when the museum purchased it in 1984.
Before that decade's end, he and Mapplethorpe would both be dead of AIDS. How their relationship changed over the years isn't clear in the film, but there's no question that Wagstaff introduced his protege to the high-stakes world of glamour and money. Some saw them as perfect complements; some saw a master manipulator in Mapplethorpe. The film tends to overstate the divide between boarding-school breeding and downtown debauchery, especially within the heady art and music scene of 1970s Manhattan. As narrator Joan Juliet Buck intones in the slightly scandalized tones of Upper East Side refinement, the supposed Culture Clash found a meeting place at drug parties in Wagstaff's Greenwich Village high-rise apartment.
In clips from the indispensable Dick Cavett Show, Wagstaff is debonair, articulate, charming. It's easy to see why Smith's affection and respect for him are undimmed. Undimmed as well is the esoterica he lovingly amassed, which helped to elevate photography's standing as an art and which still delivers a vivifying jolt.
PALM SPRINGS -- You needn't be an aficionado of photography, erotica, sadomasochism or First Amendment law to know of Robert Mapplethorpe. But Sam Wagstaff, who as Mapplethorpe's patron and lover helped inform his sensibility, is hardly a household name despite his lasting influence as a collector and curator. With his first film, James Crump aims to restore Wagstaff to his place in art history. Black White + Gray -- which takes its title from a groundbreaking 1964 Minimalism exhibition that Wagstaff organized -- gathers a wealth of talking-head reminiscences and photographic exhibits. The brief (72-minute) docu is sometimes cursory, sometimes repetitive, but it's a creditable introduction to a fascinating life.
A key witness is Patti Smith, whose connection to Mapplethorpe is well documented. She relays his excitement upon meeting the hyperintelligent, handsome Wagstaff, scion of a New York society family and 25 years his senior. Smith recalls the thrift-shop outings that netted shopping bags full of postcards, snapshots, medical photos and gay erotica -- the beginnings of Wagstaff's world-class photography collection and the inspiration for Mapplethorpe's often controversial work. Wagstaff's collection also formed the core of the Getty's photo holdings when the museum purchased it in 1984.
Before that decade's end, he and Mapplethorpe would both be dead of AIDS. How their relationship changed over the years isn't clear in the film, but there's no question that Wagstaff introduced his protege to the high-stakes world of glamour and money. Some saw them as perfect complements; some saw a master manipulator in Mapplethorpe. The film tends to overstate the divide between boarding-school breeding and downtown debauchery, especially within the heady art and music scene of 1970s Manhattan. As narrator Joan Juliet Buck intones in the slightly scandalized tones of Upper East Side refinement, the supposed Culture Clash found a meeting place at drug parties in Wagstaff's Greenwich Village high-rise apartment.
In clips from the indispensable Dick Cavett Show, Wagstaff is debonair, articulate, charming. It's easy to see why Smith's affection and respect for him are undimmed. Undimmed as well is the esoterica he lovingly amassed, which helped to elevate photography's standing as an art and which still delivers a vivifying jolt.
- 3/31/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exec changes at Red Envelope, HDNet
TORONTO -- In a weekend that saw some high-profile changes in indie film, Netflix's Red Envelope entertainment head Bahman Naraghi and HDNet Films co-founders Jason Kliot and Joana Vicente are leaving their respective companies.
Naraghi confirmed Sunday evening that he was leaving Netflix on "very good terms" and that would be able to talk about his new job in a few weeks. It is expected that he will be leaving imminently to join another company involved in film downloads.
Naraghi helped found the Netflix division, which partners with theatrical and home video retail distributors to purchase titles for its online rental service.
Red Envelope is involved in deals on multiple titles at the Toronto International Film Festival, including the recently announced partnership with IFC to buy "Love Songs" (Les chansons d'amour). The company also said Sunday that they had partnered with Arthouse Films to distribute James Crump's documentary "Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Maplethorpe," which is scheduled to open in New York and Los Angeles by the end of the year.
Naraghi confirmed Sunday evening that he was leaving Netflix on "very good terms" and that would be able to talk about his new job in a few weeks. It is expected that he will be leaving imminently to join another company involved in film downloads.
Naraghi helped found the Netflix division, which partners with theatrical and home video retail distributors to purchase titles for its online rental service.
Red Envelope is involved in deals on multiple titles at the Toronto International Film Festival, including the recently announced partnership with IFC to buy "Love Songs" (Les chansons d'amour). The company also said Sunday that they had partnered with Arthouse Films to distribute James Crump's documentary "Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Maplethorpe," which is scheduled to open in New York and Los Angeles by the end of the year.
- 9/10/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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