Mapplethorpe, The Director's Cut

2021

1h 54m

Drama

List

50%

Tomatometer

6 Reviews

83%

Audience Score

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe was among the most consequential and controversial artists of the 20th Century. "Mapplethorpe, The Director's Cut," offers restored scenes depicting Mapplethorpe's childhood love of photography, his embattled relationship with his father, and his lingering, ambivalent connection to the Catholic faith. The film follows Robert's important love affair with Patti Smith and his subsequent, pivotal romance with powerhouse art collector Sam Wagstaff. We see Mapplethorpe's development of a precise, erotically-charged photographic style, along with his ultimately successful struggle to attain mainstream recognition--a status interrupted, although barely halted, by his untimely death from AIDS. "Mapplethorpe, The Director's Cut," portrays a nuanced portrait of an artist at the height of his craft, along with the self-destructive impulses that threatened to undermine everything he prized.

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Matt Zoller Seitz

RogerEbert.com

The thing that makes the film stand out is the way it shows artists relating to each other and to their work.

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 13, 2021

Full Review

David-Elijah Nahmod

OUT FRONT Magazine (Denver)

It offers a lot of insight into what made Robert Mapplethorpe tick even if it does omit a few important things.

May 9, 2023

Full Review

David Reddish

Queerty

Mapplethorpe: The Directors Cut elevates the material from a mediocre biopic to a compelling and challenging vision of a man driven to near madness by his own contradictionsnot to mention everyone else around him

Rated: 3.5/4

Mar 13, 2022

Full Review

Morgan Rojas

Cinemacy

Seeing the 2018 film's Rotten Tomatoes score may make you hesitant to invest two hours into watching this new version, and unfortunately The Director's Cut doesn't add enough to improve that thought.

Rated: 2/5

Apr 29, 2021

Full Review

Jason Adams

Pajiba

The Director's Cut, I will say up front, is a better movie than the even-flatter 2018 version was... Still, this film has little insight into Mapplethorpe's artistic drives (save fame and sex and drugs oh my!).

Apr 2, 2021

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

I'm glad Timoner got another crack at this "Basquiat-ish" life. But this "director's cut" doesn't appear to have done the film or its subject any favors.

Rated: 2/4

Mar 30, 2021

Full Review

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Audience Member

This is a beautiful film that stuck with me for days.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Mapplethorpe, The Director's Cut provided a beautiful glimpse into Robert Mapplethorpe's life. I especially enjoyed the added footage and new soundtrack.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

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Ondi Timoner

Director

Matt Smith

Robert Mapplethorpe

Marianne Rendón

Patti Smith

John Benjamin Hickey

Sam Wagstaff

Brandon Sklenar

Edward Mapplethorpe

McKinley Belcher III

Milton Moore

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Synopsis

Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe was among the most consequential and controversial artists of the 20th Century. "Mapplethorpe, The Director's Cut," offers restored scenes depicting Mapplethorpe's childhood love of photography, his embattled relationship with his father, and his lingering, ambivalent connection to the Catholic faith. The film follows Robert's important love affair with Patti Smith and his subsequent, pivotal romance with powerhouse art collector Sam Wagstaff. We see Mapplethorpe's development of a precise, erotically-charged photographic style, along with his ultimately successful struggle to attain mainstream recognition--a status interrupted, although barely halted, by his untimely death from AIDS. "Mapplethorpe, The Director's Cut," portrays a nuanced portrait of an artist at the height of his craft, along with the self-destructive impulses that threatened to undermine everything he prized.

Director: Ondi Timoner
Producer: Richard J. Bosner, Eliza Dushku, Nate Dushku, Ondi Timoner
Screenwriter: Ondi Timoner, Mikko Alanne
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 2, 2021
Runtime: 1h 54m