All the Beauty and the Bloodshed & Common Threads: Review - Fighting for from the Margins

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022)

Director Laura Poitras latest film chronicles the life of Nan Goldin who overcome a brutal childhood to become a renowned artist only to suffer later in life from a crippling addiction to Oxycontin. Poitras does a phenomenal job juggling between two storylines in the film, one focused on the past where we see Nan's journey through life, and the other in the present where Nan is shown to be spearheading the fight against Purdue Pharma with her advocacy organization P.A.I.N. as they try to erase the philanthropic work which has sanitized the name and brand of the notorious Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma.

Nan Goldin grew up in a troubled home where her sister was sent away as a result of her being a homosexual combined with her mother's insecurities about raising a pubescent daughter after having suffered so much abuse in her own life. Following the tragic suicide of Nan's sister she sought out friendship in people who can best be described as unique and unabashedly themselves. One moment that struck me in the film was when Nan described her eclectic circle of friends such that while others may have claimed they were marginalized from society it was the opposite in that normal people were marginalized from their world. There is something inspiring about seeing people exuding their honest selves and feeling the acceptance of their peers to be able to express this side of who they are.

It was fascinating to see that Nan was often associated with the acquaintances of John Waters, the notorious cult filmmaker with a style vibrantly original and offensively genuine, as they both shared a vision of the world where people should be free to express themselves without fear of reprisals. Having recently discovered the films of John Waters and the mesmerizing life he has lived it was a pleasure to be able to gain a better appreciation of the world he lived in the people he frequented with especially from the perspective of Nan Goldin.

One of the more insightful moments in the film came when Nan discussed the stigma, which I was unaware of prior, surrounding self portraits in the past such that they were often shunned from art exhibits and viewed with a downward gaze. The fact that taking what is now coined a selfie was viewed as a radical act was shocking. Combining this new approach to photography and her honest approach to her art Nan decided to take pictures of herself after she was brutally assaulted by former love interest. Not only were these photographs important for changing the way images could be taken but they also inspired women who viewed them to come forward about their stories of domestic abuse.

Following an accomplished life of overcoming what to many could have been insurmountable odds Nan Goldin found a new mission late in life, as I have already discussed, whereby her organization P.A.I.N sought to diminish the public image of the Sackler Family for their actions in peddling Oxycontin and minimizing its addictiveness which was one of the major contributing factors the opioid epidemic. The film, along with Nan, do a great job of discussing the various ways in which the Sackler Family avoided justice through the legal maneuvers of high priced lawyers such that they declared bankruptcy thus preventing further punitive repercussions for their reprehensible behaviour.

The movie highlights Nan's activism by pointing to the ways in which both society and authority structure have hypocritically responded to the needs of people suffering from addiction. For instance, Nan during a legal proceeding discusses the ridiculous requirement for health professionals to be certified in order to be able to prescribe a drug that helps curb addiction problems while needing no such qualifications in order to hand out OxyContin. Additionally, the movie highlighted the need for more safe consumption sites in order to be able to better care for those ensnared in the the throes of addiction. Seeing the constant news stories where politicians and members of society fight against these necessary institutions being erected in their communities is infuriating and I am glad that this movie brought attention to the cause and I hope that this message is spread far and wide to erode NIMBY attitudes and ignorance of some politicians.

The fact that Nan Goldin and her organization found more justice erasing the names of the Sackler Family from museums and other prominent structures in the world than they did inside the halls of justice is a biting comment on the state of the world the ability of money to rise above the rights of society at large. One of the most compelling comments made in the film comes when a group of protestors chant that it is not the state or religion who decide which art is important but the people.

This is a fascinating movie about Nan Goldin's journey in life as one of the most prominent artists of the 20th century and notorious activists of the 21st. Additionally, the movie effectively utilized this specific story to be able comment on the ways in which society is still unjust and the levers of power are wielded far too easily by those with the deepest pockets rather than those who deserve to be heard.

Here is the trailer for All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, and for my Canadians readers the movie is currently available on Crave if you wish to watch it which I hope you do as it is well worth seeing:

Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)

Having now discussed the above film which focused on the fight of those shunned by society and those who wield power to effect change I was reminded of this film and I wanted to briefly lay out a few thoughts I had on it. This is a powerful film about the various ways in which the aids outbreak in America effected different people from various backgrounds such as those in the homosexual community along with hemophiliacs. Dustin Hoffman is wonderful hear as the compassionate and somber voice that steers the viewer through several stories of tragedy and despair. Each of these vignettes presented in the film are equally heartbreaking but unique in that each one shed a light on disparate ways in which people were infected, impacted, and succumbed to the Aids virus.

The movie offered a powerful indictment of the reprehensible behaviour of the Reagan adminstration who while thousands suffered hid behind empty words and religious rhetoric so as to entirely ignore a massive subsection of the populace while they were left to their own devices to fend against a virus whose grip on them was tightening. It is sickening to see that it was not until the virus started to plague the heterosexual individuals that greater attention and efforts were given to the cause of fighting against it as compared to when it was simply seen as a homosexual affliction.

The creation of the Aids Memorial Quilt whereby each victim was memorialized within a square of the quilt was a powerful reflection of this community's resilience and fortitude to continue fighting to be heard at a time when the powers that be turned a blind eye to them.

The movie also featured an incredible soundtrack from Bobby McFerrin which can be sampled below in a song I have included from this amazing film.

This is a powerful film which does an amazing job of painting the scene in America when the Aids virus first gripped the nation and the response of the government and society at large. Furthermore, the personal stories within offer a nuanced look at the various ways in which this awful virus impacted different people and how those around them dealt with it during this contentious time period.

Here is the trailer for Common Threads: