The remarkable documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed delves deep into the profound and mesmerising work of American photographer Nan Goldin. Released in 2022 and directed by Laura Poitras, this film offers a captivating, intimate portrayal of Goldin’s artistic journey, exploring the raw emotions and narratives embedded within her photographs.
With powerful storytelling and compelling visuals, the documentary provides viewers with an immersive experience into the life and artistry of this iconic figure.
“I don’t even like photography at all. I’m just doing photography until I can do something better”- Nan Goldin
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed gives a harrowing perspective on Goldin’s ongoing battle against the Sackler family, a bloodline of billionaires responsible for the production of OxyContin and known for their deep pockets within the arts industry. The film weaves together the threads of both Goldin’s past and present, offering a deep and introspective look on Goldin’s career as an artist and her relationships with many iconic figures within the arts, only to juxtapose the heights of their artistic expression with the sudden and often abrupt nature of their deaths due to illness or addiction.
Through her lens, Goldin unveils the beauty and struggles of the LGBT culture in the 1970s and 80’s, making us confront the history of sexual repression that still ripples throughout our culture.
The documentary masterfully presents her work, allowing viewers to understand the motivations and experiences that shaped Goldin’s photographic style, juxtaposing the “beauty” of her work with the “bloodshed” that she experienced through parental neglect, domestic abuse, drug addiction and the AIDS pandemic that robbed her of many of those she was closest to.
The film’s title comes from a quote Goldin found from her elder sister’s psychological reports made before her untimely death by suicide. While the film is dedicated to Barbara, Portias’ directorial style allows us to see the vulnerability and remorse present within Goldin, one of the few who was able to escape the seemingly endless cycle of repression, addiction and death that characterised her generation. It is not just a tribute to those we lost, but a tribute to those who carry on the struggle, not allowing the society that abused them to wipe their hands clean.
“This is not a bleak world, but one in which there is an awareness of pain, a quality of introspection”- Nan Goldin, The Ballad Of Sexual Dependency
One of the most striking aspects of Goldin’s photography is its ability to capture all aspects of the human condition, and this documentary translates that element onto the screen. While the photography of ordinary life is a concept very familiar to modern society, Goldin’s work is unafraid to peel away the proverbial shower curtain, capturing you in all of your surprised, uncomfortable and naked reality.
The raw authenticity of her work is showcased throughout the film, recounting both the intimacy and passion of her former lover, alongside the violence of the abuse she suffered by him, unflinchingly looking at the camera with a bruised face and an eye filled with blood. This photograph is a testament to the film’s message of continuing to fight against the pain we suffer, knowing that while the hands of individuals are responsible for our abuse, it is also the systems that never taught them better that should be held accountable, the lack of regulation of the drugs they took which brought out this inner violence.
Goldin’s photography tells us that while as humans we may be vulnerable, we are never weak. From moments of joy and love to profound pain and vulnerability, the documentary encapsulates the full spectrum of our reality, whether we choose to accept these parts of ourselves or not.
“I am not a voyeur, as voyeurs photograph through closed windows and with me the window is always wide open” – Nan Goldin
The documentary itself springs from Goldin’s ongoing political activism as part of her opioid awareness group P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) which she founded in 2017 following her uncovering the Sackler family’s involvement in the manufacture of OxyContin and their repeated purposeful negligence in informing the general public of its side effects. Exposed to the Sackler name in the past due to them sponsoring many of the galleries she had shown her work at in the past, Goldin was made acutely aware that the very people who had contributed so much to her own suffering and the suffering of her peers had proudly showcased her work as an act of philanthropy in order to bolster their own public image.
What followed was an uphill struggle against the entire art world itself as Goldin and her supporters fought to remove the Sackler name from many leading museums and galleries across the world, staging many social media campaigns and protests towards their goal. Goldin’s “die-ins” are shown throughout the film, with behind-the-scenes views of campaigners preparing their empty pill bottles to throw across the museum spaces before throwing themselves to the ground, masquerading as victims of opiate addiction.
Though Goldin had been laying the groundwork for the film for quite some time, it wouldn’t be until a year later when Poitras would be brought into the project after sharing breakfast with Goldin. Though their initial meeting mostly covered Goldin’s more recent struggles against Sackler, Poitras would go on to capture a broader scope of Goldin’s life and career, using a technique common in her previous work in which she would tell an ongoing narrative throughline of current events via weaving in elements of the past, creating a stunningly open portrait on Goldin’s life and career, capturing both the political and personal aspects with a deep level of reverence and respect for the subject matter.
“I was so thrilled that an artist with the power that she has was leveraging that power in the way she was”- Laura Poitras
The documentary is not just a testament to the artistic prowess of Goldin or Poitras but to the many collaborators, both living and dead, that appear throughout the film. While the film had several editors, towards the end of the project Goldin would view the rough cuts and ask to delve deeper into the lives and histories of many of her friends, such as the late Cookie Mueller, the actress familiar to John Waters fans, of whom Goldin released a series of photographs following her death in 1989.
These, combined with archival footage of Mueller in many of her early roles allows us a view on the life and times of a woman whose story was largely unsung, celebrating her life and the impact she had on Goldin, as well as the sudden, sad nature of her passing.
Perhaps the most touching memorial is found through the various archival footage of David Armstrong, a prominent gay photographer who Goldin had met at the age of 15. Their continuous friendship and the role that he played throughout her life, both as an inspiration and a confidant is lovingly recounted by Nan, supported by various photographs that the two had taken of each other throughout the years. Though Armstrong was not a victim of addiction or AIDS, his passing is felt within the film as perhaps one of the harshest blows that Goldin had to endure, a figure that was so central to her life and to the film is suddenly gone, robbing both Goldin and the viewer of that connection.
Other figures important within the narrative are Goldin’s parents, particularly within Goldin’s accounts of the abuse she and her sister had suffered, and the seeming nonchalance they felt at her sister’s death. Though initially contentious figures who were responsible for a lot of Goldin’s pain, the film isn’t afraid to show the very human aspects of them through Goldin’s visits, the narrative slowly revealing the abuse that Goldin’s own mother had suffered as well as the clear lingering regret they feel for how they had raised their children.
Towards the end of the film, we are given a brief scene of Goldin’s parents dancing together, a moment that captures the vulnerability present in much of Goldin’s works. Though they have contributed to much of their daughter’s suffering, the film still paints them as human beings, not glorifying their actions, but asking the viewer not to personally resent them on Goldin’s behalf.
Though Goldin’s sister is a factor felt throughout the film as an inspiration for her work, the final thing that Goldin battles in the film is with her sister’s memory. Though Barbara Goldin never had the opportunity to see the profound work her sister would make, she and the many other subjects of the documentary are ultimately survived by Goldin, who allows a film about her, to not just be about her.
“I used to think I couldn’t lose anyone if I photographed them enough” – Nan Goldin
Beyond its artistic merits, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed sheds light on the social and cultural impact of Goldin’s work. The documentary raises important questions about identity, gender, sexuality, and the human experience. Goldin’s unfiltered portrayal of LGBTQ+ communities and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s remains relevant today, fostering conversations about representation and societal progress.
Through its raw authenticity, unconventional narrative structure, and captivating visuals, the film allows viewers to immerse themselves in Goldin’s world and experience the profound emotions embedded within her photography. It serves as a compelling testament to the power of art and the legacy of a visionary artist.