#REVIEW: “ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED”

Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong

Prolific Photographer and Artist Nan Goldin is the primary subject of ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED, the new film from Oscar-winning Director Laura Poitras. While the Documentary acts as a profile of Goldin’s tumultuous, outrageous and inspiring life story, it is also intercut with her many photographs and slideshows, her harrowing and brutally honest narration, and footage of her work as an activist trying to take down the Sackler family – the pharmaceutical kingpins who became even more wealthy after they started selling OxyContin.

That description certainly does not sound like the most uplifting subject matter and the Film is certainly not going to be for everyone. For me though, I was riveted and deeply-invested in literally every frame from beginning to end. Goldin is a magnificent film subject, opening up about the many taboos and controversies she has encountered over the course of her life. She never shies away from speaking about the darker moments she has lived through either (which include and are not limited to, extensive drug use, sex work, and the vicious domestic abuse inflicted on her by a former lover). Refreshingly, Poitras lets Goldin’s narration and her photographs do most of the talking, merely piping in with a question infrequently or archived footage from Goldin’s gallery shows and underground cinema work. These fragments and stories are divided into chapters and take up a large section of the running time.

The other half of the Film is comprised of footage from the many protests Goldin help organize at museums and galleries worldwide that have accepted donations from the Sackler family. As it turns out, Goldin happens to be a former OxyContin addict and has a very personal stake in the on-going opioid epidemic that has destroyed families across the United States. Poitras brings us right into the group meetings of P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) that Goldin holds in her living room, the extensive planning the group goes through preparing their sit-ins as well as the protest footage itself. There is no high gloss here. Everything is honest and often painful to watch. An extended moment where Goldin and others deliver victim impact statements via Zoom to members of the Sackler family is emotional and downright devastating to witness. I sat there breathless hearing these people speak their truths to the people that caused their trauma. It is powerful stuff and worth the price of admission alone.

My only real gripe with ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED, if I can even call it that, is that the juxtaposition between Goldin’s life story and her on-going activism with P.A.I.N. does not always mesh as organically as it should. At times, it feels like it would have been beneficial to stay in one lane and talk about just her life story or just the Activism, rather than both. And while Goldin is painfully candid the entire time, Poitras does not allow enough time for her to elaborate further on some choice eye-brow raising details – including how she became addicted to Oxy in the first place (nor her extended rehabilitation). When the back and forth works, it makes for the kind of film you cannot look away from. When it does not, it just leaves you struggling to figure out where best to focus your attention.

That said, ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED still manages to be another stellar Documentary in a year that has been positively filled to the brim with them. Poitras, her team and Goldin herself have come together to create an unmissable film that is raising my blood pressure just thinking about it. I did not think much of this Doc prior to watching it last week, and am now kicking myself for skipping it at TIFF. Do not hesitate like I did – watch it as soon as you possibly can.

Elevation Pictures released ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED in Toronto on Friday, December 2, 2022, Friday, December 2, 2022, and will expand into select markets starting Friday, December 9, 2022.