Bert Stern: Original Madman (2012)
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Reviews Counted: 18
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 9
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 5/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 6
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 156
My Rating
Movie Info
Bert Stern, also known for his seminal film Jazz on a Summer's Day, experienced a meteoric career that began as a mailroom-boy at Look Magazine, where he formed a close relationship with young staff photographer Stanley Kubrick. The launch of Stern's career and the Golden Age of Advertising would coincide with Stern's iconic and legendary "Driest of the Dry" campaign for Smirnoff in 1955. Set against the backdrop of the Egyptian pyramids, this ad would sell more vodka than Smirnoff had dreamed,
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Clive Kennedy
Dr. Watt -
Zak Barnett
Young Bert -
Philippe Garner
Moderator at Christie's... -
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All Critics (18) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (9)
An effusive, sad, visually gorgeous, and illuminating portrait of the artist.
Top CriticNow in his 80s, Stern recalls his rise, fall and reinvention without evasion or apology.
It's a documentary that's filled with beautiful images but nonetheless feels unfocused.
If someone is that bored with their own life, it's not clear why we should bother listening in, no matter what they've accomplished.
While Bert Stern: Original Madman mines its subject's work for a steady stream of striking visuals, his self-narration proves to be of little interest, offering little variation on a single theme: his love/lust for women.
An unappealing jumble of sex, regret and hero worship, "Bert Stern" is an odd tribute to brilliance muffled by lust.
Feels as though it's all Laumeister could squeeze out of artist before he tired of her company. Although erratic, the picture maintains a basic understanding of Stern's peculiarities and urges.
Real life Mad Man would make Don Draper jealous.
Needs someone tougher to ask questions.
"Mad Man" presents a tantalizing overview of Stern's work as a photographer, confidently placing him among the greats in his field. But Stern as a person? Not so great.
Here's a documentary that comes from an unusual angle, the subject's lover looking at both the artist and the man dispensing with rose colored glasses.
There are myriad problems with Bert Stern: Original Mad Man -- not the least of which is a title that shamelessly and needlessly gropes for relevance by attempting to cozy up with Don Draper and co.
Absolutely smashing, revealing documentary about one of the great photographers of our time.
Highly entertaining, but not revealing or insightful enough.
Rote, rushed, and utterly uninterested in the power of Stern as an innovator of image, making it effectively the opposite of the output of the artist it attempts to document.
Audience Reviews for Bert Stern: Original Madman
I took a chance on this and saw it at the Cinema Village in NYC. AMAZING. At the beginning of the film I was intrigued, by 10 minutes in or so I was hooked. I didn't know anything about Bert Stern before seeing this film and I was thrilled to see so many incredible iconic images from my life and their stories pass before my eyes.
One of the top moments was when he describes how he had himself killed and resuscitated three different times - absolutely riveting.
The soundtrack was fresh and beautiful. Hope they will make it available on CD or iTunes.
Obviously some of the critics don't understand that Bert Stern's photographic process was driven by his PASSION for "triangles and women" rather than some analytical thought process.
All art is triangles - brilliant.
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