Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful (2020)

Directed by: Gero von Boehm | 93 minutes | documentary

Female nudity and photography are indelibly linked, not to mention sharing private material on social media. The stylized reality of the artist and his model is relatively harmless in that respect, although Helmut Newton’s obsession with nude models has more in common with voyeurism than the painter’s classic nude portrait. Newton, in his own words ‘a naughty boy’, often portrayed his models stark naked in the public environment, and even more often as mannequins.

‘He’s a little bit pervert, but so am I’, style icon Grace Jones laughs in one of the archive interviews in this documentary, released in honor of Newton’s 100th birthday. In seeking moral boundaries, Newton’s approach required models that stand strong in their shoes. His portraits therefore do not show frightened deer, but cool, provocative women, often because of the personalities behind them. In that respect, Jones’s statement is a striking one, after all, exhibitionism requires exhibitionists.

Isabella Rossellini is more reserved. Newton once portrayed her in a compelling pose with her then life partner David Lynch – a clear reference to the artist-muse theme. Rossellini’s explanation that in this case she was merely the executor of an idea is spot on; the attitude of Nadja Auermann, one of the top models of the 1990s, only shows that mannequins have no problem with this process, even though in Auermann’s case a ‘shit storm’ arose when Newton portrayed her with an artificial leg.

Artistic fashion photography is status-enhancing, everyone realizes that – including Anna Wintour of Vogue, whose rise parallels Newton’s. The showbiz also likes a free spirit. In that respect, this documentary quickly runs out of content. This is reinforced by the emphasis on talking heads, while Newton himself has been dead for over fifteen years. Although Von Boehm uses his own archive material, he should have reintroduced his amiable, cosmopolitan friend; work remains the best way to do this.