Maybe, maybe Mapplethorpe was as simple and one dimensional as Timoner would have us believe - but somehow that doesn't feel very probable. If you exclude Script and Direction Mapplethorpe is, arguably good work. But that's a big "if".
The feeling is that; there were so many "musts" to cram in that they inhibited character development and the potential of a complex, yet natural, flow. What we are left with is a cineastic version of "Painting by numbers" - a version with not many nuances on the palette.
The lack of nuance is apparent throughout, ranging from; how Mapplethorpe conceptualised his work and how it was executed, to a rather stereotype visualisation of "what gay people are like" - with plenty of other generalisations in between.
It's a shame, the subject should have a stunning array of complexities to showcase - the relationship with Patti Smith for one. Hopefully someone more "finely tuned" will make a more tantalising attempt at some stage.
The feeling is that; there were so many "musts" to cram in that they inhibited character development and the potential of a complex, yet natural, flow. What we are left with is a cineastic version of "Painting by numbers" - a version with not many nuances on the palette.
The lack of nuance is apparent throughout, ranging from; how Mapplethorpe conceptualised his work and how it was executed, to a rather stereotype visualisation of "what gay people are like" - with plenty of other generalisations in between.
It's a shame, the subject should have a stunning array of complexities to showcase - the relationship with Patti Smith for one. Hopefully someone more "finely tuned" will make a more tantalising attempt at some stage.