“Beauty and pain”
Director: Laura Poitras
Premiere: 3/9/23
Punctuation: * * * *
In this documentary, one of Poitras’s strongest choices is to tell a sprawling story with profound humanity, ensuring the protagonists and their personal journeys stay center stage even as a broad spectrum of topics unfolds. The film treats delicate subjects with generosity and empathy, inviting viewers to look closely at motives, consequences, and the human cost behind headlines. The approach emphasizes listening, patience, and the belief that truth emerges when people feel safe enough to share difficult experiences. It is a portrait that avoids sensationalism, choosing instead to let intimate moments and small details accumulate into a larger, resonant picture. The result is a narrative that feels both intimate and expansive, anchored by a steady, listening presence that refuses to rush to conclusions.
At the heart of the film is the enduring activism of Nan Goldin, a counterculture photographer whose work captured New York life from the late 1970s through the 1980s. The documentary frames Goldin’s public actions within a broader debate about responsibility, art, and philanthropy. It highlights how the Sackler family and their pharmaceutical enterprise became a focal point for critics who argue that major museums and galleries should sever ties with institutions linked to the opioid crisis. The narrative underscores a larger question about cultural governance: who decides which voices are amplified, and what price is paid when art institutions align with corporate interests that have caused widespread harm? The film’s careful stance invites viewers to weigh evidence, examine motives, and consider the moral textures of public art and private power. (Citation: Goldin’s activism and museum ethics are presented as intertwined forces shaping cultural discourse.)
Two complementary threads run through the film. One traces Goldin’s life, work, and advocacy with precise, well-documented details drawn from her own photographs and public records. It paints a clear portrait of her impact on LGBTQ rights, the AIDS crisis, and the stigma surrounding mental illness, all framed through the lens of resilience, resistance, and artistic courage. The other thread dissects the opioid epidemic in the United States, outlining how corporate decisions can ripple out to affect communities, families, and individuals across generations. Rather than treating these as separate concerns, the documentary gradually reveals their interconnectedness: power, when wielded irresponsibly, can erode trust, silence vulnerable voices, and reshape the social fabric. (Citation: the film connects personal histories with a national crisis to illustrate how accountability is essential in both culture and policy.)
As the film progresses, the relationship between Goldin’s intimate networks and the broader crisis becomes a study in cause and effect. It shows how power can distort memory, frame public narratives, and influence what a society chooses to value and protect. It is not merely a profile of a single artist or a single public health emergency; it is a meditation on responsibility—how institutions, audiences, and individuals share in the consequences of decisions made in the realms of commerce, medicine, and culture. The film’s strength lies in inviting viewers to recognize the humanity at stake, the courage required to challenge entrenched interests, and the stubborn, often painful, path toward accountability. (Citation: the concluding sections tie together personal testimony with systemic critique to emphasize accountability across sectors.)