Mapplethorpe

2018
Unrated
1h 42m

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

YOUR RATING

A look at the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and his rise to fame in the 1970s.

Play trailer1:47

2 Videos

12 Photos

Biography Drama

A look at the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his untimely death in 1989.A look at the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his untimely death in 1989.A look at the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his untimely death in 1989.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 8 wins & 4 nominations total

Videos2

Photos11

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The film was shot in only nineteen days.

Goofs
After dinner with his parents, during the scene when Robert photographs the knife and the flower the knife is held in place by a "Mathellini" clamp. The original Cardellini wasn't invented until the 1990s, after Robert's death.

Alternate versions
A longer 114 minute director's cut version was released in 2020. It features additional footage (with more scenes focusing on Mapplethorpe's childhood) and an alternate soundtrack.

Connections
References Macadam cowboy (1969)

Soundtracks
Shake Shake Shake
Performed by William Bollinger
Written by William Bollinger
Courtesy of Simply Grand Music

User reviews26

Featured review

4/10

Award-winning documentarian Ondi Timoner

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.