Anton Corbijn Inside Out (2012) User Reviews

Photographer

[willydrama · 6/10 · 5 May 2012]

As I exited the cinema after the screening and the afterparty was getting started, I had to doublecheck who the tall guy next to the bar was - Anton Corbijn is always present without getting noticed, an excellent vantage point in his line of work. In this documentary we catch a glimpse of his split personality: the quiet son of a preacher man has an uncanny knack for breaking the ice with big ego'd celebrities. "Inside Out" strolls further down this path and shows the price you pay for being one of the most famous photographers of the 20th century. Very limited time is spent with his siblings - starting a family seems out of the question for Corbijn as he spends all his time in planes and hotelrooms. The subjects of his photos all speak highly of him as a professional with a strong work ethic and old friends praise his sense of humour. So far things remain pretty bland and the director of Inside Out paints nicely between the lines. Only when his sister is interviewed and Anton himself returns to his hometown, things become more compelling; the antidote for loneliness is clearly hard work. Many questions remain unanswered though and AC's career as a music video director gets skimmed over pretty quickly; this is a shame as this is where the omnipresent theme of religion in his life and work is very obvious. Director Klaartje Quirijns is a real friend of Corbijn, hence he lets his guard down more than often and this is the real strength of this doco. While Corbijn drives to a desolate filmlocation and eats a sandwich all by himself his childhood in a tiny Dutch village echoes through; the more things change the more they stay the same.

Slow and dull documentary about a great photographer

[better_world_inc · 6/10 · 21 July 2019]

Maybe due to Anton Corbijn modesty and paradoxically introvert character, while working so successfully as a photographer portraying so many famous artists, a very social job, this documentary left me very hungry for answers : how did he decide to become a photographer, did he attend an art school, how did he meet the guys from Joy Division, U2, Depeche Mode, Tom Waits, and many more ? How did he build trust with the musicians ? Did he move to London or did he manage to start off his career from the Netherlands ? Did he have a mentor or an agent who helped him develop his professional network and business ? How did he make the transition from the still to the moving image and direct his first music videos ? How does one describe his style ? In my opinion, most of these questions remain unanswered. The greatest scenes are the moments when we see Anton Corbijn at work, shooting portraits of musicians or review them with them. And still I was surprised how little the photographer speaks or directs his models, at least in the sequences composing this documentary. The exhibition opening shots are rather boring. It is interesting to have some information about his childhood, family background and have included words by his sister. The documentary's cinematography is not quite excellent and the pace of the editing is very slow. As a fan of his works, I watched the whole film, but after only 15-20 minutes, I started getting bored. The main feeling emanating from the documentary is the immense solitude of the dedicated artist, a man without children, having maybe his musical friends as his main family, while traveling the world for his work. I am disappointed because I wanted to watch a much more complete and lively biographical film about the talented dutch photographer. An artist him/herself is rarely the best person to speak about one's own works.